How Smoking Can Affect An Un-born Fetus

Understanding how smoking can affect an un-born fetus is extremely important for expectant mothers. There are so many negative effects that can occur that anyone that is pregnant, planning or trying to become pregnant should really be aware of.

As we all now know smoking cigarettes can obviously affect the person smoking them but how smoking can effect an un-born fetus is not as well known unfortunately. The smoke that is inhaled by the mother cuts down on the amount of oxygen that reaches the fetus and also lessens the quality of the oxygen that does reach it. Lack of oxygen and the reduced quality of it can cause brain development issues during pregnancy. It can also cause low birth rate, which accounts for a high percentage of deaths in newborns. For mothers that have not miscarried as a result of smoking, they run the risk of their child having mental retardation. Miscarriages are twice as likely to occur with mothers who smoke during pregnancy and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is just as likely as well.

Just how smoking can effect an un-born fetus has now been well documented and is known to possibly cause long lasting effects on children after they are born. Possible long-term effects can include, but are not limited to, high blood pressure, learning disabilities, respiratory problems (asthma, etc...) or a host of other difficulties. Besides the known health issues, a child can also be born with physically abnormalities as well, such as a cleft lip or spinal malformation.

All of this and much more is possible with any amount of smoking during pregnancy. There are just to many risks involved with smoking to even smoke one cigarette while expecting. So, the best option is to stop smoking before one becomes pregnant or as soon as the pregnancy is suspected or confirmed. Although stopping can be one of the most difficult things anyone can do, there are products that can help with the process and they are definitely worth looking into. And in knowing what we know about how smoking can effect an un-born fetus, it is essential that a fetus not be exposed to cigarette smoke.