Although the biggest worry for the little one who will come to this world certainly goes to the mother, who keeps him safe for nine months and offers life to his cells, being obliged in every second of the pregnancy to be very careful with everything she does, thinks or wants, the people surrounding the baby have also an important role in his development. Smoking during pregnancy is forbidden both to the mother, who permanently interacts with her baby and also to the other people around her, and if the father smokes too, he should refrain from doing it in the house or near his wife. At the same time, the mother must know that she must avoid closed spaces like bars, cafes and other places where people smoke.
What are the consequences of smoking during pregnancy on the baby?
First and foremost, we are perfectly aware of the harmfulness of smoking for older people, how many diseases and how much pain it can provoke, but think how much it could harm a fetus which is in a developmental stage. Think that instead of being nourished with love and all that’s good for a harmonious development, the fetus is given poison. Because nicotine and other substances in the cigarette, tar, carbon dioxide and the rest that are not specified, are indeed poison. A first consequence of smoking during pregnancy would be the low weight of the baby at birth, this representing the smallest problem compared to others that will occur along the way.
Even if you are a smoker and you recently found out that you are pregnant, think twice before continuing to poison your body. Low weight at birth doesn’t mean only few grams; this also comes with a more fragile constitution, more risks to sickness that can only lead to the death of the baby. And to be able to give up smoking during pregnancy easier also think about the sudden death syndrome, which appears in approximate 25% of the cases in which the mother smoked during the pregnancy; this syndrome can’t be discovered, it doesn’t have any symptom and it cannot be treated.
It is just sudden death and it appears up to a year being more common for boys and manifested by painless death. Another reason why you should quit smoking during pregnancy, which goes also for the breastfeeding period, is that 38% of the babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy will be amenable to pneumonia, risking hospitalization since their first months of life, which is totally adverse for them and their little body, especially because they will have to take medication from a very early age, which is unfavorable for a harmonious development. Pneumonia is, after all, an infection in the lungs motivated by the existence of germs, viruses and other parasites.
However, let’s say that the baby doesn’t manifest these symptoms during his first year of life and he also passes the sudden death syndrome successfully – this only means luck. Many more difficulties can appear along the way. So, another reason to quit smoking during pregnancy would be asthma and bronchitis, which can appear with babies whose mothers are smokers. Think that babies are not so resistant and their immune system isn’t well developed, this being the mother’s task when she chooses to breastfeed. Malformations can also occur such as hare-lip, meaning that the lip is not fully joined while the baby is in the womb. Excessive alcohol consumption is also included in this category, harming the baby, which together with nicotine can also cause problems with the hard palate, causing a cleft palate which means that the fusion is not complete. And even though autism is a disease that appears even with babies that are well cared of during pregnancy, there are 40% more chances for this disease to appear with babies whose mother are or were smokers.
And, to whole up the history, in case you are wondering which could be the cause of an ectopic pregnancy, think about smoking during pregnancy as the biggest cause. Mothers don’t affect only the baby by smoking, but also themselves, this way determining an earlier appearance of menopause and also risks of strokes which can lead to severe heart diseases.
And as we were saying in the beginning of this article, not only mothers should quit smoking during pregnancy, as fathers should also avoid smoking around them, or why not, even quit. The moment you find out you are pregnant you must try to think as for two, and in case you haven’t given a great attention to health until then, the time comes for you to be selfless and more aware of the fact that the baby has no fault and no power to defend himself. This power is strictly up to you – the non-smoker or smoker mothers, to protect your baby from the very first moments of his life, when, even if just a cell, he needs all the attention!