SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY AND BIRTH DEFECTS

If you have ever tried to quit smoking regular cigarettes at any time in your life, you will understand the pull such an addiction holds. All smokers face the increased risk of developing lung cancer, other lung and cardiovascular diseases and numerous other disorders. Some of the more obvious symptoms of smoking, that may develop quickly, are chronic cough, hoarseness, wheezing, and difficulty performing everyday tasks. Cigarette smoke contains 2,500 known chemicals. Smoking leads to approximately 440,000 deaths in the United States each year; this is approximately 1 in 5 Americans that die prematurely due to smoking cigarettes. However, for women who smoke and become pregnant, the need to understand the consequences of smoking, during pregnancy and birth defects caused due to smoking, is vital to the health of both mother and child.

Smoking during pregnancy and birth defects are inseparable. Choosing to smoke while pregnant will result in many complications during pregnancy as well as for the baby after birth. While in the womb, the fetus and placenta need oxygen and food in order to survive. Smoking restricts the available oxygen and nutrients so that the placenta is forced to spread out further through the uterus. As this happens, the placenta thins and weakens, increasing the risk of placenta previa and placental abruption. Without the proper nutrition, the fetus is unable to develop properly. Preterm labor is often the result of a mother smoking during pregnancy and birth defects such as low birth weight, congenital heart disease, poor lung function, and stillborn deaths are common.

Even after the birth, a baby whose mother smoked anytime during the pregnancy may face continued health problems for the rest of their life. In the first year of life for a baby, a mother’s smoking during pregnancy and birth defects are still of concern. Infants, in these cases, are three times more likely to die due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than a child whose mother never smoked. Increasingly, studies show that a correlation between children who have learning disabilities and/or psychotic episodes by the time they are teenagers also had mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

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