March 31, 2008

Side Effects & Health Risks of Smoking during Pregnancy – Harmful for Baby Growth

Posted in Category : Women's Health

All the medical research done so far has shown that smoking during pregnancy is very dangerous for newborns. Cigarette has about 2500 chemicals including nicotine and carbon monoxide which harm the mother as well as the baby.

Placental problems, low-birth weight baby, preterm delivery are some of the dangerous implications of smoking during pregnancy. The babies who take birth faces the risk of several diseases which can be deadly also. Smoking during pregnancy adversely affects the physical as well as the mental growth of the child. In many cases the child born is dead or suffers from deadly diseases.

Smoking during pregnancy also harms the reproductive cycle of a woman. Premature rupture of the membrane is a common problem with smoking women. The baby born is premature and may have underdeveloped brain and physique. Moreover the smoking women also face difficulty in conceiving a child.

Heart disease, emphysema, stroke, lung cancers are some of the major diseases which affects a child when a woman is smoking during pregnancy. A child when exposed to smoking may suffer from disease like bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma and ear infection.

A to be pregnant woman should make efforts to quit smoking; sincerity and seriousness is required. Counseling and the support of the family members can help a woman in giving up smoking. In most of the cases it has been observed that if the partner does not smoke and provides moral support then the woman is able to quit smoking easily. There are centers which also helps women who want to quit smoking.

When you are pregnant, remember that your little baby is completely depending on you. The kind of lifestyle you choose affects your baby directly; so better to adopt a healthy practice, this would ensure not only your happiness but you will have a healthy and happy baby.