Smoking: Ban it when you’re pregnant!
Image from irishhealth.com
Smoking cigarettes is the number one cause of adverse outcomes for babies. There are all sorts of complications such as premature birth, born too small, babies who die even before they are born. It is unfair to a baby if the mother knows that she is harming it and even then she is not doing anything about it.
Why is it so dangerous?
Cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals, including risky ones like lead, cyanide and at least 70 cancer causing compounds. So when you smoke, these toxic chemicals mix with your blood stream, which is the only source for the baby to get nutrients and oxygen.
Cigarettes contain nicotine and carbon monoxide which are responsible for causing most of the smoking related complications. Nicotine reduces oxygen supply by narrowing your blood vessels, including the one in the umbilical cord. Imagine yourself breathing through a very narrow pipe and imagine the amount of oxygen you get. And add to that the fact that red blood cells (the one that carry oxygen) have 200% more affinity toward carbon monoxide than oxygen. What little oxygen is left in that narrow pipe is also gone.
How can smoking affect my baby?
- Shortage of oxygen can have devastating effects on your baby. Here’s how smoking affects your baby:
- Weight and size: the baby can have seriously less birth weight by as much as a good 2 pounds from the normal delivery weight. Also having a baby smaller in size isn’t a good new, it is highly probable that it is not properly developed.
- Brain function: children of smokers have comparatively less IQ and learning capability than those of the non-smokers.
- Body and lungs: underdeveloped body and breathing problems, vulnerable to Asthma.
- Stillbirth and newborn death
- Premature delivery
- Congenital heart defects
Even a cigarette a day can cause most of these damages, so quitting does mean a complete ban.
What can I do?
What you can do is to giving up smoking completely. This will not be less than a miracle for your baby. You should not try to quit smoking on your own because there is always room for that tempting craving for a cigarette or two, or that in the pull of the nicotine, you might overlook the benefit of your baby. You must consult a doctor or a therapist to quit smoking. It is a good time to quit the moment you know that you are pregnant and never think of smoking till your baby is born and nursed.
The well-being of your baby is completely in your hands, so do everything you can to have a healthy baby and a healthy yourself, including swearing off smoking.
Related posts:
- Pregnancy and Iron
- Healing Body after Vaginal Delivery
- Prenatal Tests for Pregnant Women
- Copper: Required for the Formation of Blood Cells
- Be Cautious With What You Eat During Pregnancy
- Pregnancy and Weight Gain
- Prenatal Visits: What to Expect?
- Pregnancy and Calcium
- Is Drinking During Pregnancy Right?
- Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Filed Under: Health & Diet
