Miscarriage, Premature Birth, Pregnancy and Smoking, Premature Babies
Smoking is known to have an effect on babies even before they are born. Cigarette smoke has more than 4,000 chemicals, (including 69 that cause cancer) that both you and your baby are exposed to when you smoke Smoking and your unborn baby The umbilical cord is your baby’s lifeline. The blood that flows through this cord gives your baby all the oxygen and nutrients it needs to grow. When you smoke a cigarette you inhale the gas carbon monoxide. This means that the amount of oxygen available to your baby through the umbilical cord is reduced. Smoking and Pregnancy Risks: This makes the baby’s heart beat more rapidly, and increases overall stress on its developing body.
Smoking can also reduce the flow of blood through the placenta, which limits the amount of nutrients that feed the baby
Miscarriage, Premature Birth, and Smoking, Premature Babies Smoking while pregnant If you smoke when you are pregnant the combination of carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarettes makes it harder for your baby to get the oxygen and nourishment it needs. Smoking places stress on the baby's heart and affects the development of its lungs. Pregnant smokers have a greater risk of miscarriage, may have a difficult birth and risk having a low weight baby, which will be more vulnerable to infection and other health problems.
Smoking and Pregnancy Risks: The baby of a smoker is more likely to die at or shortly after birth. If you quit before becoming pregnant or in the first few months, your baby's birth weight will be the same as if you had been a non-smoker. Also, you cut the risk of premature birth and other pregnancy complications.
Miscarriage, Premature Birth, and Smoking, Premature Babies What happens to your baby when you Smoke Every puff you take on a cigarette has an immediate effect on your baby. Carbon monoxide replaces some of the oxygen in your blood, reducing the amount of oxygen received by your baby through the umbilical cord. The nicotine in cigarettes increases your heart rate and your baby's heart rate. It also causes your blood vessels to narrow, reducing the flow of blood through the umbilical cord. This makes it harder for your baby to get the oxygen and nourishment it needs. To prepare for breathing after birth, your unborn baby will be practising by exercising some of its chest muscles.
Nicotine reduces these breathing movements.Cigarette smoke also has many other harmful poisons, which pass through your lungs and into your bloodstream, which your baby shares.
Miscarriage, Premature Birth, and Smoking Smoking during pregnancy by a mother is a major cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). It also has the following effects:
Increases the risk of miscarriage
Increases the risk of complications during the birth
Increases the likelihood of having a low-weight baby who is more vulnerable to infection and other health problems
Increases the chances of the baby dying at or shortly after birth.
Miscarriage, Premature Birth, and Smoking, Premature Babies
Smoking after baby is born Smoking and Pregnancy Risks: The risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS, or ‘cot death’) is increased in babies of mothers who smoke during pregnancy or after birth.1,2 Keep baby safe by asking smokers to always go outside your home and car to smoke. Many of the 4,000+ chemicals the mother inhales are passed on to the baby through breast milk and through passive smoking.
Babies of smokers are more likely to suffer from asthma and other respiratory infections. Children exposed to tobacco smoke have more middle ear infections.
Smoking and Pregnancy Risks Smoking and Breastfeeding If you breastfeed you are giving your baby a good start in life. Breast milk provides all the nutrition your baby needs for the first six months of life, and the major part of nutritional requirements for the first year. It also helps protect your baby against infection. As a breastfeeding mother, you have some control over your own and your baby's environment by not smoking and limiting your alcohol intake. If you breastfeed and smoke it's not ideal, but it is better than not breast-feeding. Women who smoke tend to produce less milk. Babies of smokers are more prone to chest illnesses, but breast feeding helps prevent these infections. If you quit smoking, you will no longer be passing on nicotine and other poisons from cigarette smoke to your baby through your breast milk. You will also cut down your baby's exposure to tobacco smoke, which will help protect your child's health.
If you are having difficulty quitting, you can still help to reduce harm to your baby. Consider every cigarette and decide whether it's worth it to you. Try not to smoke before or during feeds. Also try not to smoke near your baby if you can, go outdoors to smoke. If you can't give it up altogether, accept that for now, but keep working on it. After the birth of your baby, smoking by either parent increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
Miscarriage, Premature Birth, and Smoking Parent smoking during pregnancy raises kids’ heart risks An entire pregnancy is a time where a lot of care is required for and by the expecting mother. Almost any of the natural circumstances and environment we are subject to will play a role in how fit and healthy the child is at birth and after. A number of common birth defects are the result of careless behavior during a pregnancy. Smoking is one of the worst addictions to suffer from not only because of the heath risk they pose to the individual that has them, but also the health risk they pose to people in close proximity. Moreover, that it is one of the hardest habits to break does not help at all. Many peoples have repeatedly tried, and almost as equally often failed, to kick the addiction of a daily dosage of nicotine. However, when pregnant, it is essential that you avoid smoking, however hard it may be, for the health of your unborn baby. This is essential because of the facts in babies which are exposed to smoke while still in the womb, the placenta is deprived of required oxygen and nutrients. The placenta will then spread further into the uterus in search of sources of oxygen and nutrients, increasing the risk of conditions like placental abruption and placenta previa. As a result of oxygen deprivation, the baby is likely to be born with a low birth weight and suffer from other conditions including poor lung functionality.
Miscarriage, Premature Birth, and Smoking When looking closely at the link between smoking during pregnancy and the increased risk of the baby suffering from heart failure when born, studies have shown that, if both parents smoke during the pregnancy, the child has a very significant risk of thickened artery walls by the time he or she is 30 years old. The more the mother smokes, the thicker the artery walls seem to be and these children also happen to have developed fatty streaks in the arteries. These fatty streaks happen to be precursors to more severe arterial narrowing that leads to heart attacks and anginas. Some of the other conditions that a child is more prone to if his or her mother smoked during the pregnancy include food allergies, cancer, asthma, attention disorders and a short stature.
The hardest factors when it comes to suddenly kicking the habit because you are pregnant are the withdrawal symptoms you are going to experience. Light-headedness, fatigue and very intense cravings for a cigarette are commonplace, but must be ignored for the benefit of both you and your child.
Miscarriage, Premature Birth, and Smoking
Common questions “Can I use NRT during my pregnancy?” In pregnancy, it is preferable to try to quit first without using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). However, NRT is less harmful than smoking during pregnancy, as the pregnant woman and the baby receive less nicotine and no exposure to carbon monoxide and other toxic substances. NRT in the forms of gum, lozenge, sublingual tablet or inhaler (rather than patch) may be considered if you are pregnant and unable to quit, but it is important to discuss using NRT with your doctor. The benefits of quitting smoking are likely to outweigh the risks from using NRT or continuing to smoke. NRT is beneficial to highly dependent smokers who are likely to have greater difficulty in quitting and who also have a greater risk of developing problems during the pregnancy and birth
“Can I use NRT while I’m breastfeeding?” Nicotine passes freely into breast milk, just as it easily crosses the placenta during pregnancy. It is preferable to avoid exposing an infant to any potentially harmful substance. However, the overall dose of nicotine obtained from using NRT is substantially lower than that obtained by smoking.4 When using NRT there is no contamination of breast milk with other components of tobacco smoke such as carbon monoxide and the 4,000 or more other dangerous chemicals.
Self-administered nicotine replacement products that provide intermittent nicotine, such as the gum, lozenge, sublingual tablet (microtab) or inhaler are preferable to the constant delivery of nicotine as provided by the patch. The use of the NRT can then be timed to minimise the level of nicotine in the milk when breastfeeding by using it immediately after a feed to extend the time between using the NRT and the baby’s next feed.
Smoking, pregnancy risks, miscarriage and premature birth
“If I am already three months pregnant, should I quit?” If you quit now, your risk of having a low birth weight baby will be like that of a non-smoker.
“Is it OK to cut down, rather than quit?” There is no safe level of smoking. Even a few cigarettes a day means your baby is exposed to poisons that might affect your baby’s development and growth. Reducing the number of cigarettes does not cut the harm as sub-consciously, the way you smoke may change, such as smoking more of each cigarette.You are also damaging your own health at a vital time. It is never too late to quit. Quitting at any time during pregnancy is likely to cut the harmful effects of smoking on your baby.
Smoking, pregnancy risks, miscarriage and premature birth
“If I stop smoking, how much weight will I put on?” Your body needs more kilojoules during pregnancy to cope with the needs of your growing baby and to maintain your own health. A weight gain of 10 to 13 kilograms is desirable. A balanced diet means eating a moderate amount of food, selected from a wide variety of sources.
“If I have a low birth weight baby, will the birth be quicker and easier?” Having a low birth weight baby does not make things easier for you or your baby at birth. A smaller baby is more likely to become stressed during birth. Labour with a small, under-weight baby is not easier or shorter than labour with an average sized baby. The damage from smoking that causes the baby to be small also puts the baby at risk of other health problems and labour complications. ........................Go to : ......Home Page
