How Your Child can Suffer from Smoking during Pregnancy

Smoking during pregnancy puts your baby at great risk for many health problems. The problems don't stop with pregnancy they can continue after childbirth as well. Many women will not heed our advice to quit immediately upon discovering they are pregnant which is unfortunate. The benefits of quitting for both you are your baby are tremendous. You will have much easier time succeeding with a good support team. Smoking during pregnancy poses some very real risks and we will talk about those risks here.

Get help quitting from your prenatal doctor or your family doctor if you are pregnant. You can quit smoking using various methods, approaches, and products. Some of these aids still contain nicotine, however. If you wear a nicotine replacement patch, for example, the nicotine that enters your bloodstream will still be absorbed by your baby. Sure, we realize that is better than inhaling hundreds of carcinogenic chemicals from a cigarette but the nicotine in the patches still pose a health threat to your child. Discussing the best approach for you with your doctor is still the recommended way to go.

Infants of smoking mothers are displaying an interesting trend. These babies have higher heart rates than babies whose mothers don't smoke. A baby born to a smoking mother will have a heart rate that is about 30% higher than a baby whose mother doesn't smoke. This applies to women who smoked during pregnancy. Knowing exactly why this condition exists is difficult. But it may be due in part to the baby not receiving the normal amount of oxygen because of the smoking.

Focusing on the immediate physical consequences smoking while pregnant can have on the baby is natural. However, there is more evidence accumulating that suggests a correlation to negative effects more evident in behavioral difficulties. This includes learning disabilities and general behavioral issues.

You can eliminate the common problems associated with smoking during pregnancy if you take action to quit smoking. The facts in this case are pretty black and white. If you need more motivation to quit, research all the possible risks to your baby. These consequences includes still births and a higher risk of SIDS. The evidence shows just how extremely harmful smoking while pregnant is for your baby.