The Effects Of Smoking During Pregnancy

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The Effects of Smoking during Pregnancy

Most women have heard that smoking is very deadly to the human body and can cause cancer, heart disease, and other major health problems, yet it is still an ongoing problem. Around the world, about 250 million women use tobacco every day and this number is increasing rapidly, according to data presented at the 2009 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Mumbai (March of Dimes , 2011). Not only do women smoke, some choose to continue to smoke while pregnant. Smoking during pregnancy is a worldwide problem, although it is more common in developed countries such as the US, where an estimated 18 percent of pregnant women smoke. In developing countries, it 's estimated that only 8 percent of expectant mothers smoke. These percentages may sound low, but together they equal up to one million babies born worldwide each year to mothers who smoked while pregnant (Smoking during Pregnancy , 2009) . One study found that about one in four women who smoked while pregnant deny it. Maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of birth complications and has long-term developmental consequences for child development, including deficits in general intelligence, academic skills, and cognitive functioning. As social inequalities in smoking have increased over time, maternal smoking during pregnancy has become concentrated among women with lower levels of education (e.g., more than 20% among women without a high school degree) (Gilman, Breslau, Subramanian, Hitsman, & Koenen, 2008). Despite the warnings about the dangers of smoking while pregnant, some women still choose to smoke which places themselves and their baby at risk for many health issues.
Damaged caused by smoking while pregnant
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...just being around a person that does can cause harm to a mother’s fetus. Women need to know that smoking can cause miscarriages, premature birth, and other damage to a baby. Before women that smoke decide to make the decision of getting pregnant, they should research all the harmful effects that smoking has on a fetus. If pregnant smokers were to halt tobacco use a total of 986 infant deaths would be averted annually. This validates the need for infusion of more resources into existing smoking cessation campaigns in order to achieve higher quit rates, and substantially diminish current levels of smoking-associated infant deaths (Salihu, Aliyu, Pierre-Louis, & Alexander, 2003). The only way a woman can avoid pregnancy complications associated with smoking is to quit and she should also avoid others who smoke in order to avoid the dangers of second hand smoke.

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