Smoking during pregnancy is the most common harmful habit among pregnant women. The percentage of smoking teenage girls is growing rapidly, exceeding the percentage of young men smoking! Knowing about the negative effect of smoking on pregnancy, only 20% of pregnant mothers quit smoking, and all the others continue to do so.
How does smoking affect pregnancy?
Smoking in the early periods or in the first weeks of pregnancy, regardless of the number of cigarettes smoked, increases the risk of its unfavorable completion several times! Future mothers should understand that the negative impact of smoking on pregnancy can lead to adverse effects during labor, therefore, during pregnancy it is better to refrain from smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, this will reduce the risk of pathological abnormalities and mental illness in a future baby. After smoking during pregnancy can provoke premature birth and placental abruption, and this in turn can lead to the birth of a premature baby. Harm from smoking during pregnancy can be manifested in the development of a baby's congenital diseases of internal organs - such as heart disease, defects in the development of the nasopharynx, inguinal hernia, strabismus.
Scientists have proved the fact that nicotine negatively affects both the physical and psychological health of the future child. Children born to smoking mothers already at an early age tend to be inattentive, impulsive and useless beyond activity. The level of intellectual development in these children is below average.
As you can see, the harm from smoking during pregnancy is great, but this applies to smoking in the early stages of pregnancy, and what can happen if you smoke during all 9 months?
Consequences of smoking during pregnancy
The consequence of smoking during pregnancy may be fetal hypotrophy. The development of hypotrophy is accompanied by a decrease in the growth and weight of the fetus. Under the influence of nicotine in the placenta, there are characteristic changes. Carbon, contained in tobacco smoke, reacts with hemoglobin in the blood, resulting in carboxyhemoglobin, which is not able to carry oxygen to the cells of the body, and the fetus receives less oxygen and nutrients. Due to lack of oxygen, the fetus develops more slowly, which often leads to the birth of premature infants. In a smoking mother, children are born usually weighing less than 2.5 kg. And the more smoke the mother breathes, the greater the degree of manifestation of hypotrophy.
Even passive smoking and pregnancy can not be combined. Pregnant women should not be in smoky rooms, or next to those who smoke. If your loved ones smoke, then ask them not to do it in the house, where you are and the future baby, and smoking, for example, in the yard or on the balcony. If you are a young couple, and both smoke, then quitting smoking will be easier at the same time, you can support each other, if at first it will be difficult. A healthy and high-grade child is worth it to get rid of the influence of bad habits on pregnancy.
Smoking in the second half of pregnancy, when there is active growth of the fetus, poses a threat of slowing the growth and development of the fetus as a whole, especially if the mother has anemia. Also, a smoking woman often has late toxicosis.
Harmful habits during pregnancy
Exposed to the influence of bad habits, the future mother endangers the baby's body, it is worth remembering as an axiom. If the mother continues to smoke after the birth, she may have problems with lactation.
For smokers, the fat content of milk is much lower than that of non-smokers. Nicotine penetrates the mammary glands of breast-feeding mothers, and reduces the quality and quantity of milk. As a result of insufficient milk production, the mother prematurely stops breastfeeding the baby. And no baby food will be able to replace mother's milk in full.
Hence, we can conclude that bad habits - smoking, alcohol and pregnancy, completely incompatible concepts. Smoking in the first month of pregnancy, in the middle or after pregnancy in any case is contraindicated. After all, your baby's health is in your hands!