WILL SMOKING HURT MY BABY ?
The harmful effects of cigarette smoking are welldocumented . Smoking doubles your risk of heart disease and cervical cancer and increases your chance of lung cancer 12 times . If you continue to smoke during your pregnancy , please consider the following :
• Babies born to mothers who smoke are nearly ½ pound lighter on average than babies born to nonsmokers . These low birth weight babies are more likely to have continuing health problems .
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risks of miscarriage and stillbirth .
• The risk of SIDS ( sudden infant death syndrome ) is higher for babies whose mothers smoke .
• You have a greater chance of experiencing an ectopic pregnancy , a pre-term birth , and premature rupture of membranes if you smoke .
• The risk of problems with the placenta , including placental abruption and placenta previa , is higher in smokers .
• Babies whose parents smoke are more likely to get pneumonia and bronchitis during their first year of life . Approximately 75 % of teenagers who smoke are from families where one or both parents smoke .
• Women who smoke produce less breast milk .
We recommend that you quit smoking now . If you can quit during early pregnancy , you can reduce many of the risks listed above . If you are unable to quit , it is crucial to at least cut back . uabmedicine . org 47