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.
Just remember...
Smoking during pregnancy accounts for an estimated
20 - 30% of low birth weight babies, up to 14% of
pre-term deliveries, and some 10% of all infant
deaths.
When you smoke, you are inhaling nicotine and carbon
monoxide, which reach your baby through the placenta
and prevent the fetus from getting the nutrients
and oxygen needed to grow.
The most effective way to protect the fetus is to
quit smoking.
Here are some questions that are often asked about
smoking and pregnancy:
Don't
some mothers smoke during pregnancy and have healthy
babies?
Babies often
weight less when the mother smokes. Isn't it easier
to deliver a smaller baby?
Does cigarette
smoke grt through to the unborn baby?
Will a women
gain extra weight if she quits smoking during pregnancy?
How about
cutting down on cigarettes rather than quitting
for good?
Does it matter
when a pregnant women quits smoking?
What about
other people smoking around the pregnant women?
Does quitting
smoking provide benefits for the women as well as
for her baby?
If
a women quits smoking during pregnancy, will she
have a hard time handling the stress?
If a mother
who smokes creastfeeds her baby, does the nocotine
get into her milk?
Are there
any long-term harmful effects on the baby if the
mother smokes during pregnancy?
We know that
a women should not smoke during pregnancy, but is
it alright to go back to smoking after the baby
is born?
How can a
women get help in quitting?
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 mother and her baby!
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What about other people smoking
around the pregnant woman?
New studies show that if a woman's partner
smokes near her during her pregnancy, there are
added risks. She has a greater chance of having
a baby that weighs too little and may have health
problems.
So, a pregnant woman should ask her partner, and
other people as well, not to smoke near her.
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Does quitting smoking provide
benefits for the woman as well as for her baby?
Pregnancy is a great time for a woman to
quit. No matter how long she has been smoking, her
body benefits from quitting. She will feel better
and have more energy to go through the pregnancy
and to care for her new baby.
Of course, she will also avoid many of the future
health risks of smoking such as heart disease, cancer
and other lung problems. AND she will save money
that she can spend on herself and her new baby.
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If a woman quits smoking during
pregnancy, will she have a hard time handling the
stress?
She can learn to relax in other ways that
are much better for her and the unborn baby. When
she feels tense, she can take some deep breaths
or chew sugarless gum. She can also do something
with her hands like sew something for the baby or
call a friend. These are safer ways to handle stress.
She can also remind herself that smoking will not
make things any better.
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If a mother who smokes breastfeeds
her baby, does the nicotine get into her milk?
Breastfeeding is a good way to feed a new
baby, but smoking may cause problems. Nicotine is
a poison in cigarettes. So, if the mother smokes,
the baby drinks the poison in her breast milk.
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Are there any long-term harmful
effects on the baby if the mother smokes during
pregnancy?
Yes, there can be. Smoking during pregnancy
may mean that after the child is born it will have
more colds and other lung problems. These children
may also be slower learners in school. They may
be shorter and smaller than children of nonsmokers.
They are more likely to smoke when they get older
because they see their parents smoking.
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We know that a woman should
not smoke during pregnancy, but is it alright to
go back to smoking after the baby is born?
Even after the baby is born, her smoking
can hurt the baby. Babies have very small lungs
and airways which get even smaller when they breathe
smoke-filled air. Smoking can make it hard for the
baby to breathe. It can cause lung problems like
bronchitis and pneumonia that could put the baby
back in the hospital. Babies of smokers also get
more colds and coughs and middle-ear infections.
Mothers should also ask people like family, friends,
baby-sitters and daycare workers not to smoke in
any areas near the baby.
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How can the smoker get help
in quitting?
•
She can ask for help from her doctor or nurse and
from family and friends.
• She can make a list of her reasons for wanting
to quit, for herself as well as her baby.
• Set a Quit Date—the sooner the better.
If a woman is not ready to set a date, she can begin
to cut down on smoking. Then, she can make a plan
to stop all smoking in the near future.
• Ask for stop-smoking materials and read
them. A smoker needs to learn about her own smoking
habit and plan ways to cope with urges to smoke
after she quits. She can try the four D's: Delay,
Deep breathe, Drink water, Do something else.
• If a woman slips and goes back to smoking,
she should first find out what caused the slip and
then she can keep trying to quit again until she
makes it for good. The only failure is if she stops
trying.
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