Overview
Early detection is the key to keeping your baby safe and healthy. If you smoke, you’ll get much more of the harmful chemical, chemicals from cigarettes, so choosing to quit smoking is very important. Birth defects and other serious health problems may arise due to smoking. Smoking generally causes a lot of health problems. If it is in the case of pregnancy then the risk factor is more.
However, if you smoke during pregnancy, remember the safety precautions that apply to all women.
Smoking during pregnancy
It increases the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth. However, many women who quit during pregnancy experience a successful pregnancy.
Smoking during pregnancy reduces a woman’s chances of surviving into early childhood, as well as her chances of having a normal-size baby. If you smoke while pregnant, your chances of having a child who is normal-sized are better than if you quit. Nevertheless, smoking during pregnancy has little or no effect on your chances of having a healthy baby.
Against all odds, the baby is born with a normal heart rate, normal blood pressure, and normal weight. Whether this is the result of smoking or not is not known. Thankfully, you are carrying a healthy child.
What does a cigarette contain?
Nicotine is a chemical in tobacco plants and in the tobacco leaves, which when consumed can block a woman’s ability to become pregnant. It is a harmful chemical.
If you decide to try to become pregnant while you smoke, be aware that this may actually increase your chances of miscarrying, and that quitting will help you return to normal. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania examined how carcinogens found in cigarette smoke have affected the developing brains of U.S. children since 1964.
Molecular structure of a cigarette
There are two main component- The burning tar and the nicotine which comes from burning the plant material and the wood. If you take just the burning tar, that is the main component, the molecular structure is a carbon nanotube in a protein shell.
And there are many, many other elements in the tar. There is the carbon, the sugar, there is the ketone, there is some free fatty acids and there is a huge variety of volatile compounds in in there.
Does smoking effect your pregnancy?
Miscarriage is a possibility if the medical team doesn’t know exactly what has caused it. This can also be caused by irregular periods, even if your period is regular. The first half of your baby’s life is the most vulnerable time, so you need to be extra cautious. Just because you never were a heavy smoker doesn’t mean you can pass off a heavy one. It can affect your baby’s heart. A study found that women who smoked during pregnancy were at a greater risk for high blood pressure, such as hypertensive-placental disorders.
Do I need to quit smoking before getting pregnant?
It is necessary to quit smoking irrespective of your pregnancy reports. The early weeks before conception are when many people find they need to quit smoking. If you smoke or want to quit, start early! Ask your health care professional how to begin.
To do before pregnancy
If you have a problem with electronic cigarettes, you can work with your doctor or health care professional to get help. A physician can examine you and perform a physical exam to determine what the problem is.
Some medications are available for smoking cessation, but you should not use these unless prescribed by your doctor or health care professional. The FDA does not regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products, so they are unregulated and may not be recommended for smoking cessation. CRIP For new e-cigarette users, an important first step is to take steps to quit smoking entirely. Although e-cigarettes seem to be a safe alternative to cigarettes, they are not approved for smoking cessation by the FDA, and it is unclear whether e-cigarettes help smokers quit. Take all of the steps you need to quit smoking for good.
Harm caused by smoking
A recent study which shows, In 2011, 35% of U.S. adults used a tobacco product at least once a month, and 40% used them occasionally.
According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. (after heart disease).
U.S. smoking rates are higher among black than white people. Smoking affects more people in the U.S. than breast and prostate cancer combined. Lung cancer has become the No. 1 cancer killer among African Americans and the largest contributor to the racial disparity in lung cancer rates. People of color are also about twice as likely to be prescribed tobacco-related drugs (equivalent to approximately 6 to 7% of all prescribed medications) compared with white patients. Many black adults have not been screened for lung cancer.
Cigarette marketing frequently targets non-smokers, but data show that a substantial number of current users of these products have tobacco-related behaviors
8 dangers of smoking while pregnant
Miscarriage
The impact of tobacco use on birth outcomes is much more complicated. Because tobacco use affects almost every organ system in a woman’s body, it often leads to an array of problems. Among them, premature births and stillbirths. These problems occur when a woman becomes pregnant too soon after smoking. Pregnancy itself carries risks—it increases a woman’s risk of heart disease and diabetes—but smoking during pregnancy puts a woman’s unborn child at risk, too.
The CDC’s Trusted Source estimates that smoking during pregnancy (combined with all other risk factors) raises a woman’s risk of miscarriage by 14% and lowers her risk of stillbirth by 7%. A good way to see the relationship is to look at the prevalence of miscarriage among pregnant women, and you find that the risk of miscarriage rises among women who smoke in their 20s and early 30s, and it decreases among those who never smoke.
But this pattern is not independent of smoking. For example, women who smoke and are younger than 35 who smoke during pregnancy are five times as likely as nonsmokers to miscarry. And women who smoke during pregnancy who are 50 or older are about 4.5 times as likely to miscarry as nonsmokers.
While risks from maternal smoking are significant, maternal smoking during pregnancy also has significant benefits for the mother and baby. This is especially true for nonsmokers, whose health risks appear to be lower in the womb than in adulthood.
Smoking during pregnancy increases a woman’s risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease and sleep apnea. For a woman who smokes, the risk of developing a problem during pregnancy can be as high as 40 percent.
Ectopic pregnancy while smoking
Ectopic pregnancy is the result of a pregnancy that is not completely contained within the uterus. A high-risk procedure performed to assist with a continuation pregnancy requires a great deal of safety. There is a small possibility that an ectopic pregnancy could be diagnosed by ultrasound imaging of the pelvic ultrasound scan. Follow the physical exam and cervical vaginal exam for signs and symptoms.
If the pregnancy has not ended within 48 hours or more of pregnancy evaluation, call the doctor. A burst tube is called ectopic pregnancy. Since it is not possible to know for sure if you have contractions before you become pregnant, health care providers should watch for signs of contractions, including loss of bowel and bladder control, bloating and weight gain.
Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH)
Smoking is a known risk factor for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), the most important cause of maternal deaths in the United States, although there is not evidence to show that it increases the risk for PPH complications. Nonsmoking mothers are more likely to experience PPH complications than are smoking mothers, as is the case with postpartum hemorrhage, which occurs at an increased risk among nonsmokers.
The placenta is a complex organ, with many physiological and chemical actions. Numerous factors affect its function, but one of the most important is a pregnancy’s duration. Premature birth is the major cause of maternal mortality and morbidity, and studies have shown that placenta previa increases with maternal age and is more common among younger women.
PPH is more common among younger women, particularly those who have had few previous pregnancies. Women who have received natural or artificial contraception may also have a decreased ability to reabsorb protoplasmic components of the placenta in the reproductive tract. Women who smoke, are nonsmokers, or who do not use any form of contraception are more likely to experience postpartum hemorrhage, which is the leading cause of maternal mortality.
Placenta previa due to smoking
Placenta previa dissemination is a potentially serious side effect of heavy smoking.
When smoking was initiated before 32 weeks’ gestation (n = 162), there was a 7.6 times increased risk of placenta previa dissemination. However, when heavy smokers commenced smoking between 32 and 37 weeks’ gestation, there was no increase in risk of placenta previa.
Most of the studies also suggested that the risk of placenta previa dissemination was increased at a time when smoking was already established, because the placenta contains an inflammatory substance.
A number of studies did not find that heavy smoking increased the risk of placenta previa.
Heavy smoking increases the risk of placenta previa with subsequent pregnancies because of the metabolic change in the placenta. Heavy smoking increase the risk of placenta previa when it occurs within the first year following childbirth.
Preterm birth due to smoking
Infants born too early might be able to survive if treated early, but if the baby’s organs aren’t strong enough to handle a lack of oxygen. Babies born too early are more likely to die, but they can be saved. If a pregnant woman smokes cigarettes, she’ll put her unborn baby in serious danger. According to the National Institute of Health , smoking cigarettes during pregnancy can lead to premature birth or stillbirth.
Let’s look at some of the ways that smoking during pregnancy might harm the baby. Infants who are born too early often have significant vision, hearing, cognitive or motor problems. In fact, babies born too early are four times more likely to have developmental problems than babies born at a normal weight. Babies born too early are more likely to be later diagnosed with congenital heart defects and deafness.
Low birth weight of the child
Due to smoking babies with low birth weight are more likely to have physical problems later in their life, such as heart and breathing problems, which are the same as other babies, meaning it is also a leading cause of dying in later life.
Birth defect due to smoking
A new study finds that more than 30 percent of babies born to heavy smokers in their first year of life had one of these defects, compared to less than 10 percent of those born to women who didn’t smoke at all during pregnancy. The number of babies born with birth defects among children exposed to smoking has increased substantially over the past two decades. These findings underscore the need for pregnant women to quit smoking.
Complications due to smoking
Despite knowing the fact that smoking causes danger to their health some of them don’t quit smoking and throw themselves in danger. One needs to face many complications due to smoking. It can increase the risk factors of pregnancy. The only way to this is quit smoking.
Bottom line
One never wants suffer with health issues, but still can’t get rid of some habits like smoking and drinking etc,. to some extent these habits cause no harm. But once you are addicted to them they can harm your health. As pregnancy is one of the most important phase in one’s life smoking should be avoided in this case. If needed doctor’s help you can reach them and take help from them to have a safe pregnancy.
Sirisha B