Smoking and pregnancy

Smoking rates are going down among Americans. However, the smoking rates among women are going down more slowly than among men. In fact, among high school seniors, teenage girls now smoke as much or more than teenage boys.
When young women who smoke start to think about having children, they need to think about quitting smoking. The best time to quit is when a woman plans to get pregnant in the near future. Or she needs to think about quitting after she finds out that she is pregnant, which will be better for her own health and for that of her baby.
Pregnancy is a great time to quit smoking and to stay quit after the baby is born.
Here are some questions that are often asked about smoking and pregnancy:

Don't some mothers smoke during pregnancy and have healthy babies?

They are the lucky ones! If a woman smokes during pregnancy, she takes a big chance with her baby's health. There is a greater chance that she will lose the baby during pregnancy. The baby could also be born too early, before the lungs are ready, so he or she will have trouble breathing. Why take a chance when there is so much to lose?

Babies often weigh less when the mother smokes. Isn't it easier to deliver a small baby?

It is not always easier to deliver a low-weight baby. And a baby that weighs too little is often sick with lots of health problems. Smaller babies are more likely to need special care and stay longer in the hospital. Some may die either at birth or within the first year.

Does cigarette smoke get through to the unborn baby?

Yes: when the mother smokes, so does the baby. Smokers take in poisons such as nicotine and carbon monoxide (the same gas that comes out of a car's exhaust pipe). These poisons get into the placenta, which is the tissue that connects the mother and the baby before it is born. These poisons keep the unborn baby from getting the food and oxygen needed to grow.

Will a woman gain extra weight if she quits smoking during pregnancy?

A woman needs to gain weight during pregnancy. An unborn baby depends on the mother to eat the right foods. So, if she stays away from junk foods and sweets, the mother's weight gain will be fine. And she needs to exercise. Her doctor can help her plan how to keep active; brisk walking is good for most women.
Even if a pregnant woman gains a few extra pounds, she can lose it after the baby is born. And speaking of how she looks, the woman can think about how smoking stains her teeth and fingers. It makes her clothes and her breath smell bad. And smoking may even add more skin wrinkles.

How about cutting down on cigarettes rather than quitting for good?

The only way to really protect your unborn baby is to quit.
Cutting down is better than doing nothing, but it may not make things much better for the baby. If a pregnant woman cuts down or switches to low-tar cigarettes, she must be careful not to inhale more deeply or take more puffs to get the same amount of nicotine as before.

Does it matter when the pregnant woman quits smoking?

The best time to quit is when the woman thinks she will get pregnant in the near future. If she does quit, her baby will probably weigh the same as the baby of a woman who has never smoked.
Or, if she quits within the first three or four months of her pregnancy, she can lower her baby's chance of being born too small and having lots of health problems. Even if a woman quits at the end of her pregnancy, she can help her baby get more oxygen and have a better chance of making it. It's never too late to quit, but the earlier the better for both the read more