How smoking affects the fetus during pregnancy. Severe consequences of smoking during pregnancy for mother and child

Pregnancy for every woman is special period. Nine months, carefully caring for the health of your own baby, future mom He eats fully, visits doctors regularly, walks a lot, takes vitamins. However, parting with a cigarette for a frightening number of pregnant women does not become priority. This includes smoking later dates pregnancy, because a certain number of expectant mothers mistakenly believe that during this period a cigarette smoked does not pose a threat to the child.

Very often, even the presence of various pathologies during pregnancy or the development of the raft is not able to make a pregnant woman quit smoking. And giving up cigarettes, albeit in the last month of the pregnancy period, seriously reduces the risk of developing many complications. This article presents the main dangers that smoking carries during late pregnancy, and the possible consequences for the baby.

Smoking during pregnancy

Of course, the ideal option is a situation where the girl did not even start smoking before pregnancy. However, when such a habit exists, then it is required to abandon it at least a year before the likely planned conception. It is this period of time that is required for the complete elimination of nicotine from the female body.

Even if a pregnant woman eats properly, drinks a complex of vitamins, plays sports, but smokes, this habit will definitely affect the health of the child. No matter how healthy the lifestyle of a smoker is, the baby will still receive a fairly large dose of nicotine during development. It is believed that unlike drug or alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction is rather weak. The main thing is to uncompromisingly take the first step towards understanding that smoking in late pregnancy is harmful, so it must be abandoned.

Why is smoking dangerous during pregnancy?

Cigarette smoke contains more than four thousand chemicals, including cyanide, lead, and several dozen carcinogenic compounds. When smoking, they all enter the bloodstream of a pregnant girl. The mother's bloodstream is the only direct source of oxygen, a variety of nutrients for the child. That is, the expectant mother, smoking, literally poisons her own baby, because not a single substance included in cigarette smoke is good for him. And two - carbon monoxide and nicotine - are generally extremely dangerous.

It is this pair of substances that enters the body when smoking during late pregnancy that can cause complications such as low birth weight, premature birth, stillbirth. This happens due to the insufficient amount of oxygen supplied to the baby. In addition, nicotine greatly constricts blood vessels, including those in the umbilical cord, so a developing child is forced to breathe through a thin tube, and this further reduces the amount of oxygen available.

Smoking in the second part of pregnancy

The most important role during the second half of the pregnancy period is given to the placenta. She is responsible for providing the baby with nutrients, oxygen. When smoking in late pregnancy is the norm for a woman preparing to become a mother, this physiological process is disrupted. An insufficient amount of oxygen enters the body of a developing child, due to which he may develop acute oxygen deficiency syndrome.

Smoking during pregnancy can also cause the placenta to mature too early. Such an old placenta functions much worse, which can eventually lead to sudden preterm birth. When the placenta is characterized by an irregular shape (determined by ultrasound) and becomes excessively thin, the chances of intrauterine death of the baby increase dramatically.

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In pregnant women who smoke, including those who actively smoked before their own pregnancy, the risk of stillborn babies and premature births is seriously increased. Female smokers are about 20% more likely to have stillborn babies. When a pregnant woman smoked more than a pack of cigarettes daily, this risk is 35%.

Consequences of smoking during pregnancy

1. The birth of a premature baby

Such children, as a rule, are born very weak, in most cases their lungs are practically not adapted to breathing without devices. Therefore, in the first few weeks of life among such newborns, a rather high percentage of mortality is observed.

2. Hypotrophy

It usually manifests itself in a mismatch with the gestational age of the parameters of physical development. Among the causes of malnutrition is vasospasm, which reduces blood flow to the uterus, limits the supply of the child with essential nutrients. Carbon monoxide that enters the mother's body along with tobacco smoke blocks oxygen, causing oxygen starvation of the baby.

Smoking in late pregnancy is considered the main reason for the slowdown in the development of certain organs. For example, there is a lag in the development of the liver, kidneys or brain, while the rest of the organs and systems develop in accordance with the actual gestational age.

Newborns with malnutrition are small in weight and height, often after birth they need to stay in a specialized ward for several weeks intensive care. In the future, such children require special care, they gain weight very poorly, and are more susceptible to diseases.

3. Stillbirth

In women who smoke, the risk of intrauterine death of the baby is very high. Availability multiple pregnancy, a large number of cigarettes, paternal smoking also greatly increases the chances of neonatal mortality.

4. Preeclampsia (late toxicosis)

The risks of developing this complication increase many times with smoking in late pregnancy. Preeclampsia is dangerous not only for the developing child, but also for the health, even the life of the pregnant woman herself. Its most severe form - eclampsia - can lead to the death of the baby and mother.

With gestosis in the vessels of the placenta, blood circulation is disturbed, which is the reason for the delay in the intrauterine development of the child. In addition, acute preeclampsia can provoke placental abruption, premature birth. Such complications in most cases require surgical intervention, accompanied by highly likely death of an unborn baby.

5. Difficulties with feeding

In women who smoked during pregnancy, milk is characterized by a low percentage of fat content. Therefore, such mothers immediately have difficulties with the active production of milk, which forces them to transfer the child to artificial feeding early.

6. Violation of mental development

Statistically, children of women who actively smoke often suffer from impaired attention, memory, emotional development, and perception. Such children may be registered with a speech therapist, child psychologist, neurologist. It is very difficult for them to adapt, get used to kindergarten, school.

7. Sudden Infant Mortality Syndrome

The baby can die for no apparent reason, in most cases this happens in a dream. To date, the exact causes of this syndrome have not been established, but experts have proven that among the risk factors is smoking of the expectant mother during pregnancy and the presence of various smoking-related complications: prematurity, preeclampsia, malnutrition, developmental delay, and so on.

8. Smoking addiction

Babies from families where mothers smoked during pregnancy, and also continue to smoke after, very often also begin to smoke. It usually happens at an early age.

Passive smoking during pregnancy

When a pregnant woman becomes passive smoker, that is, against her own will she is forced to inhale cigarette smoke, for the formation of a baby this is very harmful. Such passive smoking in late pregnancy significantly increases the risk of miscarriage.

In expectant mothers exposed to passive smoking:

• 13% more likely to have a child with various birth defects;
• 23% more risk of stillbirth;
• 39% higher risk of spontaneous miscarriage.

Every pregnant woman should try to protect herself to the maximum from active smokers so as not to become a passive consumer of a cigarette house. The body of a future mother who stays in a smoky room for an hour will receive such a volume of harmful substances that a person receives by smoking one cigarette. And this, as mentioned above, is more than four thousand different extremely harmful substances that contribute to the development of negative processes in the body.

happy motherhood

Careful planning of a future pregnancy becomes a wonderful reason to part with a variety of existing harmful addictions. However, quite often the news of the onset of motherhood comes to a woman unexpectedly. Therefore, at this moment, a woman needs to realize the full scope of responsibility for the life that has arisen inside her. Smoking in late pregnancy carries only harm that can break the life of an unborn baby. It is worth seriously considering whether you are able to survive the birth of an injured, sick baby or his death quite calmly and without special emotions, knowing full well that you are to blame for this?

The birth of a healthy child is the brightest event in the bright life of every woman. On the way to the happiest motherhood, the first step should be a categorical rejection of existing bad habits, not least among which is smoking..

A few secrets..

It is unlikely that there will be at least one sane person who will argue that smoking during pregnancy does not affect the health of the future mother and fetus. Ideally, a woman should not smoke before, during, or after childbearing. Of course, if this is unrealistic to implement, then it is necessary, according to at least try to minimize the number of cigarettes you smoke daily.

To date, a number of clinical research exhaustively proved the dangers of smoking during pregnancy. Miscarriage, violation of the formation and development of the fetus, premature birth - and this is just small part what can await a smoking woman who is in position.

Knowing exactly what will happen to the health of the child if you smoke during pregnancy, every girl would once again think about whether to buy another pack of cigarettes or not.

Smoking before conception

No matter how much they talk about a healthy lifestyle, addictions still continue to dominate among the population. If you are young and full of energy, then what harm can you talk about from a few cigarettes and a small amount of alcohol? In addition, most of us console ourselves with the hope that we can easily give it all up as soon as the need arises. However, according to doctors, not everything goes without a trace.

It should be said right away that the reproductive system will be one of the first to respond to the intake of nicotine, benzopyrene and other harmful substances contained in cigarettes. It turns out that women who do not deny themselves the pleasure of enjoying the aroma of tobacco smoke are 1.5 times more likely to become infertile compared to non-smoking representatives of the beautiful half of humanity.

In addition, girls who smoke regularly are more likely to experience menstrual irregularities, ovulation problems, and menopause more quickly.

According to statistics, smoking in the first three months of pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage during natural and artificial insemination by as much as 10%.

Smoking during pregnancy

We have not quit smoking, but we are already carrying a baby. It is regrettable to admit, but addiction prevailed over possible risks for the health of the baby. What are the consequences of smoking during pregnancy for the expectant mother? Quite serious, to say the least. Smoking in early pregnancy is 2 times more likely to cause the following complications:

• Premature rupture of the membranes, in which there is an outpouring amniotic fluid before childbirth. Such an undesirable phenomenon can occur at any month of pregnancy and provoke even more severe complications in the form of hypoxia, asphyxia, intracranial hemorrhages, bone deformities in the fetus, etc.
• Premature abruption of the placenta, which often leads to heavy bleeding and leaves the fetus absolutely without life support (oxygen, nutrients). In such circumstances, it is necessary to carry out an emergency C-section to remove the baby and stop the bleeding.
• Violation of the maturation of the placenta will reduce the blood flow to the fetus, which will immediately feel a lack of oxygen and nutrients. What is to be expected? The fetus will not be able to fully grow and develop.
• Placenta previa, which can lead to a threatened miscarriage and premature birth.

It is never too early or too late to quit smoking, especially when it comes to the health of your unborn baby.

How does the fetus suffer from nicotine?

The consequences of smoking in early pregnancy can be very sad for the fetus. Not so long ago, British researchers managed to establish a relationship between smoking in the first weeks of pregnancy and the birth of a child with a malformation of the face (cleft lip, palate). A more detailed study revealed that more than 40% of mothers who had children with this kind of defects smoked quite regularly during pregnancy.

In parallel with British researchers, American scientists were able to prove that women who decide not to give up smoking during pregnancy are an order of magnitude more likely to have children with congenital clubfoot. The risk of being born with a similar pathology of the musculoskeletal system in children with a smoking mother is 34% higher than in children whose mother does not suffer from such a bad habit as smoking. In addition, if there is still a hereditary factor, then the risk of being born with congenital clubfoot increases immediately by 20 times.

It is worth recognizing that the harm of smoking during pregnancy is a proven and well-known fact, but, oddly enough, women did not stop smoking because of this and are not particularly going to quit the bad habit either.

What awaits a child born from a smoking mother?

If a child born from a smoking mother was born without visible malformations, this does not mean that he is absolutely healthy and does not require further observation. The mother's addiction can still make itself felt. What will happen to the child after birth if you smoke during pregnancy:

• Low body weight after birth.
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
• Psycho-emotional disorders.
• Obesity at an older age.

prematurity

Smoking almost doubles the risk of giving birth to a baby with a weight below the norm and before the expected date. More specifically, children born to smokers weigh an average of 200 grams less than children whose parents are not burdened with addictions. In addition, in the first months of life, premature babies gain little weight. In the future, children with low birth weight may have serious chronic problems with health.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

There are cases sudden deaths babies from respiratory arrest. But what was the reason why outwardly healthy child stopped breathing, can not be installed. Quite often, death overtakes an infant in a dream without any previous signs. Hence the second name SIDS - "death in the cradle." Many scientists attribute maternal smoking to a concomitant factor in the development of sudden infant death syndrome. In addition, there is some evidence that, most likely, SIDS is caused by chronic hypoxia (lack of oxygen), the signs of which are often recorded at autopsy.

Several independent clinical studies have shown that if a woman smokes during pregnancy, the baby is three times more likely to die from SIDS than a child born to a non-smoking mother.

Psycho-emotional disorders

Today it is no secret to anyone that nicotine, benzopyrene and other toxic substances contained in tobacco smoke negatively affect both the physical and psycho-emotional state of the child. Scientists from Germany have found that children from smoking parents, from an early age are distinguished by inattention, increased activity, impulsiveness. In addition, their intellectual abilities leave much to be desired.

At the same time, British doctors determined that in children whose mothers actively smoked during pregnancy, the risk of developing a mental disorder such as autism increases by 40%.

Obesity at an older age

A recent study showed that maternal smoking during pregnancy can lead to obesity in the older child. adolescence. Currently, the exact mechanism for this effect has not yet been established, but scientists suggest that nicotine may affect the functional areas of the brain responsible for hunger and energy metabolism.

In turn, obese adolescents will be more prone to a range of diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and so on.

Other deviations

More recently, the US Public Health Service published a report that if all pregnant women in the United States stopped smoking, it is estimated that the number of stillbirths would be reduced by 11%, and the overall death rate of newborns by 5%.

Quitting smoking at any stage of pregnancy is certainly more beneficial than continuing to poison your body and fetus with nicotine throughout the entire 9 months of bearing a child, especially if this is done in the early stages (in the first trimester). In addition to the above consequences, smoking in early pregnancy can also provoke the development of the following abnormalities in the fetus:

• Malformations of the musculoskeletal system.
• Congenital shortening of the lower limb.
• Congenital malformations of the cardiovascular system.
• Premature fusion of the bones of the skull.
• Malformations of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Underdevelopment of the anus in newborns.
• Congenital hernia of the spine, esophageal opening diaphragm, white line of the abdomen, etc.
• Undescended testicles in newborns (cryptorchirchism).
• Malformations of the skin and its appendages.

The desire to give birth to a healthy child should be your main motivation for quitting smoking during pregnancy, especially in the early stages.

How does passive smoking affect a pregnant woman?

It is reliably known that the smoke from a smoldering cigarette contains much more harmful substances (tar, carbon monoxide, nicotine) than the smoke inhaled by a smoker. If you are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke during your pregnancy, then you are at a significantly increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, tubal pregnancy.

In addition, infants exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to bronchial asthma, various types allergies, are more likely to suffer from lung diseases and are at risk for sudden infant death syndrome.

How to give up a bad habit?

No matter how sad it may be, but today many girls and women do not take seriously the consequences of smoking during pregnancy. There are even rumors that if you stop smoking immediately during early pregnancy, you may experience a miscarriage. What people go to just to justify their addiction. In fact, while in position, it is necessary to quit smoking as soon as possible in order to minimize the potential harm to the health of the unborn baby.

To date, there are quite a lot of effective methods and programs to get rid of addiction in the form of smoking. One thing is enough - an irresistible desire and desire to quit smoking. The girl must understand for herself that any cigarette smoked during pregnancy can be especially fatal for her baby. Some tips to help you quit smoking before and during pregnancy:

1. Throw away all the cigarettes you have in the bin.
2. Keep away matches, lighters, ashtrays.
3. Make your home a non-smoking area.
4. Ask people not to smoke around you.
5. Stop drinking strong drinks (tea, coffee).
6. Change your habits that have been associated with smoking.
7. Carry candy or chewing gum with you for when you feel like smoking.
8. Make your daily routine more active.
9. Walk outdoors more often.
10. Get a new hobby, passion.

Can nicotine substitutes be used during pregnancy?

Recently, various nicotine patches and chewing gums have been especially popular for getting rid of smoking. Although nicotine substitutes help reduce withdrawal symptoms and suppress the urge to smoke, the safety of using these agents has not yet been adequately assessed during pregnancy.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends using nicotine patches and gums only when others have failed. non-drug methods treatments, such as psychological counseling, and if the potential risk from smoking outweighs that from the use of nicotine substitutes.

Violation of a healthy lifestyle in any month of pregnancy is always fraught with serious problems for the future child.

Adverse changes in pregnant women who smoke come down to pathologies: in the mother's body, during the intrauterine formation of the baby, in infants and growing children.

The mother's body and the child's body are one whole - when a woman takes another puff, the baby is surrounded by a smoke screen, leading to vasospasm and oxygen starvation. Doctors note placental changes in pregnant women who abuse cigarettes. In this case, the placenta acquires a more rounded shape and becomes thinner. The increase in the number of spontaneous abortions, the number of neonatal episodes of mortality and the facts of a slowdown in the development of newborns are attributed to early detachment and situations with large placental infarctions due to the negative effects of nicotine.

The results of smoking before conception, during childbearing and after birth:

• an increase in the number of spontaneous abortions and spontaneous labor;
• the incidence of preterm, underweight infants;
• process-related violations breastfeeding;
• decrease in adaptive factors and increase in cases of neonatal diseases;
• risk birth defects;
• a noticeable lag in children mentally and physically.

There are known facts about the adverse effect of smoking during pregnancy on the system of peripheral blood supply to the expectant mother, as well as a decrease in the respiratory activity of the fetus. The detrimental effect of carbon monoxide and nicotine on the intrauterine development of the fetus concerns a decrease in the ability of hemoglobin to transport oxygen. As a result, arterial spasm of the uterus disrupts placental function.

Harm of smoking during pregnancy

A little-known fact is that tobacco carcinogens have a depressing effect on the functioning of the reproductive system of the fetus. In girls, there is a decrease in the supply of eggs, and boys in later life may have problems with potency.

It is difficult to underestimate the harm of smoking during pregnancy for the mother herself:

• the process of gestation is more difficult;
• cases of early toxicosis, as well as preeclampsia, are common;
• growing problems associated with varicose veins veins, dizziness, indigestion (constipation);
• nicotine causes vitamin C deficiency.

I would like to note that an insufficient amount of vitamin C in the mother's body entails such troubles as: failure of metabolic processes and the functioning of the immune system, impaired protein absorption and depressive states.

Smoking during pregnancy leads to intoxication of the fetus with tobacco smoke. The kid involuntarily becomes a passive smoker. These children are often exposed to addictions such as tobacco and alcohol as early as adolescence. The worst thing is that newborns often suffer from "nicotine starvation", that is, even in the mother's womb, they develop harmful addiction. Addiction manifests itself in different ways: whims and bad sleep, the first breath at birth, followed by a state of suffocation.

How harmful is smoking during pregnancy?

Passive or active smoking makes a child a smoker already in the mother's womb, and the concentration of carcinogens from tobacco smoke in a developing baby is much higher and lasts longer than in the mother's blood. Passive smoking has been proven to increase the risk of developing dementia syndrome.

Motherhood means care, love, the ability to think about the happiness and health of the unborn child. However, for some women in the position, neither horror stories about long-term problems, nor information about the harmful components of tobacco do not stop before a harmful addiction. But still, they should know how harmful smoking is during pregnancy. This knowledge did not appear from scratch, but reflects research data from scientists around the world on the effect of nicotine on the course of pregnancy and embryo development:

• the ability to conceive in smokers is significantly reduced - in women, there is difficulty in the movement of the egg in the fallopian tubes and inhibition of the action of hormones, and in men, spermatozoa lose their mobility;
• the number of born boys decreases - it is proved that the male embryo is more difficult to get used to the conditions of survival. Passive smoking, for example, reduces the possible birth of a son by a third;
• the child of parents-smokers is doomed to problems associated with reproductive function;
• smoking of the expectant mother makes the child nicotine dependent;
• smoking during pregnancy threatens with premature detachment of the placenta, leading to a complication of childbirth with large blood loss or miscarriage;
• children of mothers-smokers are premature, lag behind their peers in development;
• developmental defects appear. various pathologies- faces, limbs, internal organs;
• tobacco smoke impairs lung function in a child, which is provoked by a lack of surfactant;
• cigarette abuse often causes sudden infant death syndrome;
• Babies of mothers who smoke are the most susceptible to various diseases.

How does smoking affect pregnancy?

Heavy smoking during pregnancy affects a woman's weight. The body weight of a smoker is less due to a decrease in appetite as a result of addiction and a decrease in the amount of diet consumed.

Scientists have determined that the number of spontaneous abortions directly depends on the number of cigarettes smoked by the expectant mother. Infant mortality in childbirth of mothers-smokers increases by 30%, and the risk of an unfavorable course of labor in smokers doubles. Premature birth is another adverse effect of tobacco use.

How does smoking affect pregnancy and thiocyanate levels? Daily smoking of up to twenty cigarettes leads to an increase in thiocyanate in the blood of the mother and, accordingly, the baby, which is determined by the analysis of blood serum. An increase in thiocyanate causes endothelial dysfunction, which is the main factor in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary processes.

The effect of smoking on pregnancy

Doctors have included the concept of "fetal tobacco syndrome" to determine the degree of influence of nicotine on the baby. A similar diagnosis in children is differentiated if:

• the expectant mother smoked more than five cigarettes daily;
• there was severe hypertension in a woman during the gestation period;
• in a newborn at 37 weeks, a symmetrical growth retardation was noted;
• the sensations of taste and smell are dulled, there is stomatitis;
• there is increased blood clotting;
• there is a violation of hematopoiesis;
• reduced immunity;
• premature skin aging (wrinkle formation) is noted;
• antidiuretic effect.

The negative impact of smoking on pregnancy concerns primarily violations of the structure of the tissues of the placenta, which becomes thinner, its weight is significantly reduced compared to the norm. The placenta acquires a rounded shape under the influence of nicotine, undergoes changes in terms of blood supply. Data pathological processes often contribute to premature rejection of the placenta, extensive hemorrhage in its tissue and fetal death.

Tobacco smoke carcinogens activate spasm in the uterine arteries, leading to placental circulation dysfunction and, as a result, insufficient oxygen supply to the fetus, which causes growth retardation. Increased content in blood carbon dioxide can lead to hypoxia of the embryo.

It is important to note that smoking during pregnancy reduces the absorption of vitamins B, C and folic acid, which is fraught with problems when laying the central nervous system in a baby.

Does smoking affect pregnancy?

The news about the birth of life does not always make a woman give up cigarettes. Many of the expectant mothers prefer to reduce the number of cigarettes / packs they smoke and nothing more.

The reaction of the baby inside the mother's tummy was tracked by scientists who conducted ultrasound diagnostics. It turned out that only when the pregnant woman intended to smoke did the child begin to shrink and grimace.

If you are still in doubt about whether smoking affects pregnancy, then you should refer to the experience of medical representatives. Scientists from all over the world have been studying the effects of tobacco smoke on mother and baby. In addition to physical pathologies, underdevelopment, intellectual and mental problems, smoking during pregnancy threatens with difficulties in social implementation in the future. The closed, unfavorable space in which the baby was during development leaves its imprint on the subconscious level for life.

Recall that cigarette smoke is made up of approximately 800 components, thirty of which are poisonous—carbon monoxide, nicotine, cadmium, mercury, cobalt, and so on. Therefore, tobacco intoxication is a constant companion of all smoking mothers and their children.

Smoking and pregnancy planning

Planning for conception means the readiness of a married couple to become parents. With this approach, both a man and a woman realize the importance of creating healthy, full-fledged development conditions for the future baby. Spouses deliberately check the state of their body, get rid of existing problems, put their emotional state in order.

It becomes obvious to such people that smoking and pregnancy planning are incompatible things. Both future parents should give up the negative habit as early as possible. After all, the ability to reproductive functions in smokers it is reduced by almost two times. In men, the quality of sperm is significantly reduced, and in women, the number of eggs is reduced. As it turned out, it is more difficult for smokers to get pregnant even with the help of IVF, and the number of attempts is doubled.

Based on the fact that male body gets rid of nicotine faster than a woman, then you can plan a conception three months after quitting smoking, provided that only the future dad was a smoker.

When can I plan pregnancy after smoking?

A number of studies report that blood purification occurs after eight hours from the moment of smoking. For the complete removal of nicotine toxins from the body, it will take up to six months.

Before pregnancy, you should give up cigarettes at least a month in advance, because nicotine significantly reduces the chances of a possible conception. It should be noted that using a nicotine patch or chewing gum to combat tobacco addiction only before conception.

ABOUT negative effect Smoking on the female body has been said a lot - heart, lung diseases, liver problems, lowering of protective forces, etc. How long will a woman have to recover from an addiction? It all depends on the intensity of smoking, the state of body systems, proper nutrition and emotional stability. How pregnancy will proceed after smoking depends on the presence of chronic diseases caused by addiction.

smoking before pregnancy

Nicotine addiction is a common cause of infertility. Scientists have found that female smokers have less viable eggs. This is due to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that enter organs and systems through tobacco smoke. A woman's ability to conceive is reduced on average by half, which is determined by the frequency and number of cigarettes smoked.

Women who are addicted to cigarettes are more likely to suffer from menstrual cycle, they do not have the onset of ovulation and a quick acquaintance with menopause.

Passive smoking before pregnancy, especially when negative habit the father is also susceptible, further reducing the chances of successful fertilization. Male smokers have problems with the potency, quality and viability of spermatozoa.

Smoking in early pregnancy

You smoked and didn't know you were pregnant. The news of a new life within you brings joy and anxiety about the possible harm done. Nature showed concern for the future baby here too. Conception occurs approximately on the fourteenth day of the cycle. The first week is characterized by a lack of communication between the mother and the embryo, which develops at the expense of its own strength and reserves. The introduction of the embryo into the endometrium of the uterus is carried out only in the second week of the term, and when the delay occurs, the woman finds out about the pregnancy.

Smoking at the beginning of pregnancy disrupts all physiological processes in the mother's body, negatively affects the laying of the internal organs and systems of the unborn baby.

It is easier to forget about an addiction at the beginning of gestation than to do it at a later date.

Smoking in early pregnancy

Nicotine addiction prevents the organs of the unborn baby from “ripening”, replacing healthy cells with sick ones. The appearance of defective cells is due to tobacco toxins. Maximum nicotine harm is inflicted bone marrow, which requires a transplant after the baby is born.

The expectant mother may not be aware of the onset of pregnancy or console herself with excuses: quitting smoking will be stressful for the baby, for the first two weeks there is no connection between the mother's body and the embryo.

Be that as it may, smoking on early stage pregnancy - selfishness and irresponsibility for your child. Gynecologists-obstetricians unanimously argue that it is better to forget about cigarettes even before conception. If the pregnancy was not planned, then the expectant mother should get rid of her addiction immediately after receiving the good news.

Smoking in early pregnancy

Smoking is considered the most harmful in the early stages of pregnancy, when all the organs and systems of the baby are “laid down”. One puff delivers a solid amount of harmful substances to the embryo - nicotine, benzapyrene, carbon monoxide. Nicotine provokes fetal hypoxia due to the effect of carbon monoxide, which penetrates through the placental barrier into the blood of the developing child and forms carboxyhemoglobin with hemoglobin.

The presence of nicotine in the body of the expectant mother significantly weakens the blood flow in the vessels of the placenta, thereby reducing the supply of nutrition to the fetus. Spontaneous abortion, increased vaginal bleeding are common side effects tobacco early.

Addiction to cigarettes at the beginning of gestation is fraught with the possibility of developing mutations in the newborn - "cleft palate" or "cleft lip". The formation of the sky occurs just between the sixth and eighth weeks.

If you did not know about the life emerging inside you and continued to smoke, then get rid of bad habit follows as quickly as possible. Ideally, he does not get acquainted with cigarettes at all or give up addiction until the moment of conception.

Smoking in the early days of pregnancy

Smoking, even passive, first of all, has a negative effect on the body of a woman, worsening the condition of the lungs and the immune system. Female smokers are most susceptible to respiratory diseases, which is absolutely not necessary during pregnancy.

It is believed that in the first days after conception there is no connection between the mother and the embryo. Therefore, smoking in the first days of pregnancy does not harm the unborn child. As a rule, most mothers learn about their new position after two or even five weeks after conception, continuing to smoke.

If you are unable to complete healthy lifestyle life, there is nicotine in your blood, which has negative impact on your organs and systems. The number of cigarettes smoked daily also matters.

Gynecologists recommend getting rid of addiction to tobacco as quickly as possible in order to avoid difficulties with the intrauterine development of the baby and complications during pregnancy, as well as during labor.

Smoking in the first weeks of pregnancy

Many female smokers often, unaware of pregnancy, continue to smoke their dose of nicotine. It is important to immediately abandon the negative addiction, after confirming the fact of conception.

The placenta becomes a home for future life for all nine months, providing the child with everything necessary for full development - oxygen, nutrient media, protective antibodies. Formation placental tissue ends by the end of the twelfth week after conception, and smoking in the first weeks of pregnancy brings various disturbances to the natural process. The embryo suffers from oxygen starvation and is poisoned by tobacco toxins.

Smoking at 5 weeks pregnant

In the fifth week of pregnancy, the active development of the fetus occurs:

• dividing cells into groups to form various bodies;
• the origin of the prototype of the future nervous system (neural tube);
• laying the most complex organ - the brain;
• the heart begins to beat;
• the circulatory system develops.

In the pictures, the embryo resembles a shrimp with the rudiments of the bronchi, thyroid and pancreas, liver, kidneys and adrenal glands.

From the foregoing, it becomes clear that smoking at the 5th week of pregnancy is more than an irresponsible act. The expectant mother should remember that the beginning of gestation is especially dangerous with the possibility of a miscarriage. A woman needs to carefully monitor her health: take vitamins, eat right, do not overcool or overheat, forget about medicines and bad habits.

Refusal of tobacco and alcohol will protect your baby from changes in the DNA structure and congenital deformities.

The hormonal peak falls precisely on the fifth week after conception. The embryo already has a connection with the mother's body through the umbilical cord and draws vital resources thanks to the nutrition and oxygen coming from the mother.

Smoking during pregnancy contributes to the penetration of toxic tobacco smoke to the baby, causing suffocation and severe intoxication. Such babies after birth are nicotine dependent, they may experience respiratory arrest and spontaneous death.

During this period, the placenta is actively forming, and the addiction of the mother can disrupt the natural physiological process. The consequences can be deplorable - changes in the circulatory system of the placenta, its early detachment, bleeding and spontaneous abortion.

Smoking at 6 weeks pregnant

In the sixth week, the baby resembles a tadpole with dark dots in the places of future eyes and nostrils. The outlines of the limbs and hollows in place of the ears begin to appear. Ultrasound picks up the embryonic heartbeat, and blood begins to circulate in the developing body.

What harms smoking at 6 weeks of pregnancy? Imagine a closed space where about four thousand poisonous components are concentrated. The threat to the unborn baby is tobacco smoke containing:

• nicotine, which constricts blood vessels;
• carbon, deficient oxygen;
• strong carcinogen - benzene;
• hydrogen cyanide used to weed rats;
• formaldehydes.

And now realize that the closed space is your womb with a growing new life, which is forced to absorb all the poisonous vapors. The saddest thing is that in this situation the baby simply does not have the right to choose.

Smoking at 8 weeks pregnant

Moms should be aware that smoking at the 8th week of pregnancy can cause pathologies in the formation of the baby's nasopharynx. Many people have heard about such problems as "cleft lip" and "cleft palate", but few people know that such congenital deformities are solved through complex surgical procedures. Therefore, smoking mothers should not continue to look for excuses, but it is recommended to get rid of nicotine addiction.

Smoking during pregnancy deprives the embryo of a sufficient amount of oxygen, causes dysfunction of the mother's circulatory system. These facts give rise to changes in the mental development of the baby, often leading to Down syndrome after birth.

Smoking at 10 weeks pregnant

Most of all, poisons from tobacco smoke harm the embryo at the first stage of development, when all vital important organs and systems. The baby inside the mother's womb experiences a double dose of nicotine intoxication, and even small and delicate nascent organs are not able to withstand the destructive smoke.

So weak babies with congenital pathologies are born, prone to all sorts of sores. It is not for nothing that some gynecologists equate smoking at the 10th week of pregnancy with a crime. The risk of spontaneous infant death increases, and the chances of reproducing a healthy baby into the world tend to zero.

At the end of the tenth week of gestation, the embryo enters the fetal stage, when its active growth begins. Despite the fact that the risk of birth defects is highest in the first nine weeks of development, smoking at the 10th week of pregnancy can adversely affect the further formation of the baby's internal organs. The formation of the nervous system continues with the development of reflexes (lip movement, sucking reflex). The liver, kidneys, brain, diaphragm are also at the stage of improving their functionality.

Mom's smoking during pregnancy causes irreparable physiological, mental damage to the health of the unborn baby. After birth, the child may show diseased lungs, heart disease, mental retardation, mental disorders.

Smoking at 12 weeks pregnant

The twelfth week ends the first trimester of gestation. The laying of all organs in the fetus has already taken place, the brain is practically formed. The skeleton of the child reaches the phase of ossification, characterized by the formation of bone substance. At this stage of intrauterine development, the thymus gland (thymus) is actively functioning, contributing to the accumulation of T-lymphocytes (necessary in the future to fight infection), and the thyroid gland, which synthesizes iodotyrosine and regulates metabolic processes. The development and growth of tissues under the influence of thyroid hormones continues.

Smoking at the 12th week of pregnancy will be absolutely inappropriate, since until the 14th week there is an active laying of vital important systems baby's body. The influence of nicotine will be reflected primarily in the natural development of organs. Carcinogens contained in cigarettes can cause physical abnormalities and mental problems. There is a high probability of miscarriage as a result of placental rejection due to disorders in the circulatory system of the placenta.

Smoking at 16 weeks pregnant

Sixteenth week of gestation - accelerated formation nerve cells neurons that began to form from the fifth week. Now every second there are five thousand new cells. The pituitary gland comes into play. At the sixteenth week, hemoglobin begins to be produced, the digestive function is added to the hematopoietic function of the liver.

Breathing continues through the umbilical cord, so smoking at the 16th week of pregnancy does not bode well, except for the next problems.

Each stage of intrauterine development is unique, created by nature to lay down or improve the functions of the systems of a new organism. Your baby is already quite active: he is able to make faces, spit, swallow and suck, and turn his head. On ultrasound, you can capture his indignation at the incoming nicotine poison - grimaces, compression of the body.

Smoking at 18 weeks pregnant

For a period of eighteen weeks, the brain continues to form, adipose tissue is formed in the child. The immune system is gaining strength, which has begun to produce substances that help fight viruses and infection. The baby in the mother's tummy picks up penetrating light and sound vibrations.

If you continue smoking at the 18th week of pregnancy and cannot cope with yourself, then the child has a huge intoxication from nicotine. Addiction is a factor that increases the risk of congenital pathologies.

The elimination of nicotine addiction in experienced smokers, ideally, should occur by the twelfth week of embryo development. Maternal instinct, willpower, or spontaneous rejection of addiction can help.

Smoking at 23 weeks pregnant

The twenty-third week is the period of the beginning of the formation of the fat layer in the embryo and active growth. Development blood vessels lungs speaks of preparing them for respiratory function. The baby shows respiratory movements, but the lungs do not open. IN respiratory system the baby gets a small amount of amniotic fluid, which does not cause any harm and is quickly absorbed. Breathing "workouts" include about sixty movements with a break of thirty to sixty minutes. Violates this process smoking at 23 weeks of gestation causing hypoxia. There is an opinion that a cigarette smoked by a mother makes the baby not breathe for up to half an hour.

Smoking during pregnancy in the sixth month provokes premature birth. Caring for such a newborn difficult process and is characterized by a high probability of death of the baby. A complication in smoking mothers can be a stillborn baby, placental abruption with heavy bleeding.

Smoking at 30 weeks pregnant

Doctors believe that getting rid of addiction to tobacco, even at the thirtieth week of gestation, will help the baby gain the necessary weight. During this period of development, a fatty layer appears, causing the accumulation of calcium, iron, protein, and antibodies. The child has periods of sleep and wakefulness, as well as the laying of features in the nervous system and mental state.

Smoking in the 30th week of pregnancy often causes early detachment of the placenta, leading to premature labor. These complications are resolved by surgical intervention and are dangerous for the possible death of the fetus. Nicotine at this stage provokes a state of malnutrition - a discrepancy between the physical development of the baby's organs and the period of pregnancy.

Smoking at 33 weeks pregnant

The thirty-third week of pregnancy brings the long-awaited event of the birth of the baby closer. Moms-smokers should know that at this moment the formation of pulmonary alveoli is underway, and the liver acquires pronounced lobes and its cells line up in a strict order that determines the performance of important physiological functions by the main chemical laboratory of the body. In the pancreas comes the moment of self-production of insulin. The “adjustment” of all the internal organs of the baby is being completed.

It becomes clear that smoking at 33 weeks of pregnancy will not bring anything good baby. Nicotine intoxication, lack of oxygen and nutrients, developmental delay, organ dysfunction, congenital abnormalities are all consequences of tobacco smoke.

Placental abruption and premature birth are also the result of smoking during pregnancy at 33 weeks. Given pathological condition poses a serious threat to the life of the baby and is fraught with severe blood loss for the mother.

Smoking in the first month of pregnancy

The first months after conception are characterized by the greatest vulnerability of the embryo, since all the main systems of the unborn baby are born.

As a rule, a woman learns about pregnancy no earlier than four to five weeks. The body is waiting for a hormonal shake-up, eating habits change, emotional instability and a number of physiological changes (discharge from the vagina, swelling of the nipples, nausea, etc.) are observed. Some women experience an aversion to cigarette smoke during this period. But it also happens that the processes of restructuring do not affect the desire to take a couple of puffs.

Smoking in the first month of pregnancy is considered very dangerous because of the threat of miscarriage. The embryo does not receive enough oxygen, the process of physiological formation of organs and systems is disrupted. Passive inhalation of tobacco smoke is no less harmful, so teach your household to go out "smoke" into the air.

Smoking at 5 months pregnant

By the fifth month of fetal development, the baby's limbs are already well developed, and he is happy to check them in motion. The activity of the fetus is replaced by periods of calm. The baby is able to cough and hiccup, which future mothers can catch. The baby in the womb accumulates brown fat to keep body temperature constant. The fatty layer under the skin provides the baby with protection from hypothermia and substances involved in vital processes. Formed in the skin sweat glands.

Mom's smoking at the 5th month of pregnancy can produce a colossal failure in subtle natural processes. With insufficient oxygen supply due to the action of nicotinic toxins, the natural rhythm of development is disturbed.

At this time, premature birth, which can be provoked by active tobacco abuse, will be absolutely undesirable. A baby at five months is completely unprepared to meet the outside world, and his chances of survival are negligible.

Smoking at 6 months pregnant

The fetus in the sixth month of development has a thin body, devoid of body fat, with developed limbs. Sweat glands begin to emerge in the skin, the eyes are still closed. This period is also characterized by the formation of papillae on the tongue, but the baby will learn to distinguish taste notes upon reaching the twenty-eighth week.

Wise nature conceived the consistent formation of a new life with the laying, development and, one might say, “ripening” of organs. Each stage of gestation is the thinnest physiological process, to make negative changes in which smoking during pregnancy is capable. The internal systems of the baby are so easily vulnerable, and nicotine poison freely penetrates the placental barrier.

The baby has already developed facial expressions, and he reacts negatively to maternal smoking at the 6th month of pregnancy, which doctors managed to capture during an ultrasound scan. Some babies make faces, grimace, even hold their breath at the mere thought of a mother's cigarette.

Smoking at 8 months pregnant

Systematic smoking at 8 months of pregnancy increases the risk possible complications given period – uterine bleeding, prenatal condition, miscarriage, etc. Maternal addiction to cigarettes affects the development of the baby in her womb. Among the pathologies in an infant, there are - low weight, cases of spontaneous mortality in the first days of life after birth.

When the mother takes another puff, the baby, who is in a closed and smoke-filled space, coughs and chokes, his heart begins to beat faster, and the lack of oxygen deprives him of the opportunity to fully develop until the moment of birth.

Smoking at 9 months pregnant

The last month of gestation is preparatory, when the child adds about 250g per week and descends lower in the pelvic cavity. The first training contractions appear, short and painless. During this period, it becomes easier for a woman to breathe.

Smoking at 9 months of pregnancy is characterized by such complications:

• placental abruption and heavy bleeding, which is an indication for cesarean;
• possible exacerbation of hypertension;
• late toxicosis;
• premature labor activity;
• increases the risk of a stillborn baby.

Smoking in the last month of pregnancy

The increase in the number of future mothers-smokers, sadly, is happening in all countries. Increasing the number unmarried women, worsening social conditions are the causes of cigarette abuse and alcoholic drinks. Moreover, expectant mothers are not stopped by warnings about a possible miscarriage or complications during gestation.

Smoking in the last month of pregnancy disrupts the woman's peripheral blood supply, which in turn causes hypoxia in the baby (lack of oxygen). For this reason, fetal underdevelopment may occur, increasing the risk of having a premature baby.

Tobacco smoke carcinogens have a pathological effect on the psyche of the unborn child. The fact is that cigarette toxins provoke insufficient blood flow to the brain of the embryo. This is how anomalies of the nervous system and mental disorders appear. The results of some studies indicate the association of smoking during pregnancy with Down's syndrome in the child after birth.

Heart defects, nasopharyngeal defects, inguinal hernia, strabismus - this is a list of common problems of babies whose mothers were addicted to smoking in the process of bearing.

Smoking in the first trimester of pregnancy

X-ray exposure, drinking alcohol, taking medicines and smoking in the first trimester of pregnancy cause irreparable harm to the baby. To understand what this is connected with, it is necessary to recall the stages of the intrauterine formation of a child.

During the first month, the laying of the heart, lungs, brain and the formation of the umbilical cord begins, through which nutrition enters and the waste products are removed. The second month is characterized by the formation of limbs and the growth of the brain. The stomach, liver develop, the development of other organs is noted. In the third month, the baby begins to move, which is not felt at all due to the low weight (about 30g) and size (about 9cm). This stage- the formation of the reproductive system.

It would be superfluous to remind you of the importance of the ongoing processes, the ban on smoking during pregnancy, a balanced diet, the fulfillment of all doctor's prescriptions and the use of vitamins.

Smoking in the second trimester of pregnancy

The fourth month of gestation is the period of active intrauterine growth of the baby. The umbilical cord enlarges and thickens to receive more blood and nourishment. During the period of the fourth and fifth months, an increase in weight of about two kilograms will appear. The expectant mother will begin to feel the first stirring in her stomach. In the sixth month, more is required large quantity nutrients, so a woman should eat a balanced and regular diet.

Smoking in the second trimester of pregnancy, when the placenta is fully formed and functioning, provokes an insufficient supply of oxygen to the baby. This contributes to the development of chronic or acute hypoxia, which disrupts the natural growth and development of the baby. Early maturation of the placenta, a change in its shape and thinning of the wall may occur. For these reasons, there is a threat of spontaneous birth and death of the baby.

Smoking in the third trimester of pregnancy

Smoking during pregnancy poses a risk to both the expectant mother and the baby. A smoked cigarette leads to vasospasm in the circulatory system of the placenta, which causes oxygen starvation of the fetus. Therefore, even passive smoking at the last stage of the development of the baby causes him irreparable harm. Babies of mothers who smoke are more likely to be obese colds, allergic reactions, diabetes.

Smoking in the third trimester of pregnancy can provoke early labor as a result of placental abruption. Rejection of the placenta from the walls of the uterus should occur only after childbirth, therefore, premature discharge of the placenta is a pathology that threatens the life of the baby. This condition is determined by bleeding, worsening the condition of the woman.

Another nuisance in smoking mothers for a long time is preeclampsia, which also causes a number of complications due to changes in vascular system placenta - violations of embryonic development, premature labor.

Smoking in late pregnancy

Doctors say that it is always better to give up smoking at any period of gestation than to continue to persist in your unfavorable addiction. Quitting tobacco even in the last month can reduce the risk of possible complications for a woman and her child.

What are the risks of smoking in late pregnancy? First of all, fetal hypotrophy, which is manifested by a discrepancy between the characteristics of physical development and the gestation period. Vascular spasms, leading to a decrease in blood flow to the uterus and restriction of nutrients supplied to the baby, cause malnutrition.

The ingress of carbon monoxide into the mother's body is a factor that causes oxygen starvation in the child. Newborns with this syndrome lag behind in weight, gain it with difficulty and require intensive care and special care.

Smoking during pregnancy, approaching its completion, causes a delay in the formation of certain organs in the baby - the liver, kidneys, brain. These mothers are more likely to have stillborn babies or die during the first weeks of life. Health professionals are familiar with sudden infant death syndrome when death comes for no apparent reason, often in a dream.

The enjoyment of nicotine before close childbirth often provokes preeclampsia, the development of which before eclampsia threatens the life of the mother and baby. Preeclampsia is characterized by changes in the vascular system of the placenta, which causes inhibition of fetal development, placental abruption, provoking premature labor.

Effects of smoking during pregnancy

It is rather difficult to predict all the negative phenomena from active and passive smoking during gestation, since some of the pathologies in a child appear years later.

Smoking four cigarettes daily is already a serious threat in the form of premature labor. Smoking during pregnancy greatly increases the risk factors for perinatal mortality.

In children with increasing intensity maternal smoking there is a decrease in body length, head circumference and size of the shoulder girdle. The consequences of smoking during pregnancy extend to stagnant processes in physical, intellectual and emotional development. Children whose mothers smoked in position are most susceptible to bronchitis and pneumonia.

The most severe anomalies in congenital infants developing from maternal smoking include:

• defects in the development of the neural tube (dysraphism);
• heart disease;
• violations in the formation of the nasopharynx;
• inguinal hernia;
• strabismus;
• anomalies in mental development.

Tobacco abuse has an impact on the appearance of trisomy (Down's disease).

Pregnancy and smoking: how to quit?

Incompatible concepts - pregnancy and smoking. How to quit a bad habit? It turns out it's not that difficult. If you lasted the first twenty-four hours, then you practically won. It remains to control oneself when meeting with friends, in moments nervous tension, surging boredom, etc.

ladies for whom daily rate there were more than ten cigarettes daily, it is not recommended to give up smoking abruptly. Pregnancy is stressful for the body, and lifestyle changes, which include smoking, can add stress to the physical and emotional state. Rapid cessation of tobacco can reduce heart contractions and activate muscle contractility, which is fraught with spontaneous abortion. Therefore, if you are an experienced smoker, stretch the process of "leaving" cigarettes in time (approximately three weeks). Reduce the amount of smoking every day and develop the habit of not smoking a cigarette to the end - you satisfied your nicotine hunger with a couple of puffs and that's enough.

Passive smoking during pregnancy

Toxins from cigarettes enter the human body through tobacco smoke. The smoker himself absorbs no more than 20% of harmful substances, he releases the rest of the carcinogens into the surrounding air, poisoning bystanders. One hour of passive smoking is enough to get a nicotine dose that provokes diseases of the lungs and the cardiovascular system, which develops the onset of cancerous tissues.

A factor influencing premature labor and lack of oxygen in the fetus is passive smoking during pregnancy. Penetration cigarette smoke to the fetus increases the risk of developing pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma after birth. Children whose mothers involuntarily inhaled tobacco smoke during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from allergies and have a weakened immune system.

Smoking hashish or marijuana while pregnant

Marijuana - smoking mixture from the dried plant "Cannabis sativa" with the main chemical component - delta-9-hydrocannabinol, which promotes a change in consciousness.

Hashish is a substance made by pressing the cannabis herb, with the main ingredient delta-9-tetra-hydrocannabinol. According to the psychoactive effect, hashish is considered more strong remedy than marijuana.

However, the effects of psychotropic products are similar: increased heart rate, weakening of the tone and expansion of the bronchi, redness of the eyes. Drugs affect the "pleasure centers" in human brain leading to a temporary feeling of euphoria. The payoff will come in the form of memory problems, incoordination, toxic psychosis, and other changes.

Smoking hashish during pregnancy often causes prolonged labor. The negative effect of the substance on the baby concerns slow growth and development, a decrease in reproductive functions during adulthood, problems with the nervous system and vision.

Studies have shown that children of mothers who preferred smoking marijuana during pregnancy show distorted reactions to visual stimuli, have an increase in tremors (active movements of the limbs as a result of muscle contractions), and are screamers. All these facts may indicate the presence of problems in the nervous system.

The consequences of marijuana for growing children and schoolchildren pointed to:

• behavioral disorders;
• decreased language perception;
• difficulty concentrating;
• weakness of memory and difficulty in solving visual problems.

Smoking and alcohol during pregnancy

Smoking and alcohol during pregnancy are an explosive mixture, a double threat to the life and health of the child.

Abuse of alcoholic beverages increases the likelihood of various kinds of abnormalities in the baby. Alcohol that has penetrated to the fetus remains in the body of the fetus twice as long as in the blood of the mother. Even moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy will not guarantee the absence of mental and physical abnormalities in the newborn.

Smoking during pregnancy and drinking alcohol are factors in miscarriage, premature birth and complications during labor.

The simultaneous effect of ethanol, acetaldehyde and nicotine on the embryo, especially in the early stages, can disrupt protein synthesis and lead to irreparable changes in DNA, causing brain pathologies.

Smoking during pregnancy is a conscious imposition of one's will on an emerging new personality; the same as offering a child a cigarette or a glass of vodka. If you still don't understand what it's like to have a baby inside you with tobacco smoke, look around you, find a person in your immediate environment who can't stand cigarette smog, and watch him during your puff. Most likely, the poor fellow will hold his breath for a while, his face will be distorted in a grimace, he will begin to wave his hands near his nose, expressing displeasure in every possible way. But this person has a choice - he can move away from you, which your unborn child cannot do.

smoking during pregnancy

Myths about smoking during pregnancy

For the sake of a bad habit, a lot of myths have developed in society related to smoking and its “safety”.

Myth 1.
A pregnant woman should not abruptly quit smoking, as giving up cigarettes is stress for the body, dangerous for the baby in the womb.
Is it true:
Each dose of poison that comes with the next cigarette is even more stress for the fetus, which can lead to irreversible consequences.

Myth 2.
Smoking in the first trimester is not dangerous.
Is it true:
Exposure to tobacco smoke is most dangerous in the first months, when the most important organs are being laid.

Myth 3.
Pregnant women can smoke electronic cigarettes.
Is it true:
The nicotine contained in the cartridge still enters the bloodstream, albeit in smaller quantities, so for ladies in the position of e-cigarettes are as harmful as regular ones.

Myth 4.
If you smoke light cigarettes or reduce the number of cigarettes per day, then there will be little harm.
Is it true:
The harmful effects in this case will decrease, but not by much: the smoker, who has limited his dose of nicotine, will try to “get it” with deeper puffs, which will increase the amount of smoke that has entered the lungs.

Myth 5.
If a friend smoked and gave birth to a strong baby, then nothing will happen to you.
Is it true:
Perhaps the friend was just very lucky, but with a high degree of probability, the health of her child was undermined by the intrauterine action of nicotine and other poisons, and although this effect is not yet noticeable, sooner or later the problems will make themselves felt.

Effects of smoking on mother and child

Smoking harms an unborn baby in several ways.

First, tobacco smoke contains many toxic substances: nicotine, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, tar, a number of carcinogens, including diazobenzopyrine. Each of them poisons the fetus, getting to it through the mother's blood.

Secondly, when smoking in the body, the amount of B vitamins, vitamin C and folic acid is significantly reduced. Their deficiency can provoke the development of defects in the central nervous system and lead to a number of other complications up to spontaneous abortion.

Years of research have revealed a number of sad patterns associated with smoking during pregnancy:

Smokers are more likely to give birth to small children (up to 2.5 kg). Every third underweight newborn is from a smoking mother. Even among those who smoked little and rarely, on average, children are born 150-350 grams lighter, as well as smaller in height and with a smaller head and chest girth.

Significantly increases the likelihood of miscarriage, premature birth and death of the newborn. A pack of cigarettes a day increases this risk by 35%. The combination of two bad habits: smoking and drinking alcohol, multiplies it by 4.5 times. At least one in ten preterm births are caused by smoking.

Smoking mothers have a 25-65% higher chance of premature placental abruption, 25-90% (depending on the number of cigarettes) - placenta previa.

Smokers are 4 times more likely to have children with chromosomal abnormalities, since poisons act on the fetus and at the gene level.

“Smoking” pregnant women are 3-4 times more likely to be diagnosed with a lag in the development of the fetus.

Children are 30% more likely to develop obesity or diabetes by age 16 if their mothers smoked while pregnant.

The consequences of smoking a pregnant woman affect the child for at least another 6 years. WHO studies have shown that such children begin to read later, lag behind in mental and physical development compared to their peers, and pass intellectual and psychological tests worse.

The offspring of smoking parents are several times more likely to start smoking than those whose mother did not smoke at all or gave up cigarettes during childbearing.

The expectant mother is highly recommended not only to completely abandon cigarettes herself, but to ask smokers from her environment not to use them in her presence - inhaled when passive smoking smoke can also affect her position in a bad way.

If the data does not seem scary to you, consider that they only talk about the harm caused by smoking, while there are very few women who can boast of excellent health and ideal conditions for bearing. All factors (health, past illnesses, general physical and moral preparation, environmental conditions, bad habits) add up and affect the development of the fetus. And if you seek to give birth to a living and healthy child Why put his life in danger?

It would seem that the obvious fact is considered that smoking is a bad habit that every person needs to get rid of.

So why are there so many questions about smoking during pregnancy?

Why do some argue that it is possible to smoke during pregnancy, and others that it is not, and which of them is right?

The dangers of smoking during pregnancy. It is possible or not - you decide!

Smoking definitely doesn't bode well. Nicotine kills thousands of lives every year. It is also terrible that this does not happen at one moment, but gradually, creating the illusion that the picture is not as critical as it is in reality.

It is terrible that women have become addicted to this addiction, but the fact that future mothers, dragging on a cigarette, philosophically reflect on the question of whether or not to smoke during pregnancy, is equated to a disaster.

According to WHO, 30% of expectant mothers do not give up smoking, creating new statistics on the impact of smoking during pregnancy on the health of the child. Below is just a small list of pathologies that occur against the background of smoking.

Spontaneous abortion. Pregnant women who smoke are twice as likely to have miscarriages as non-smokers. Depending on the number of cigarettes smoked and their quality, the number of spontaneous abortions can reach 80%. The reason lies in the disparate amount of poison contained in cigarettes and the tiny body weight of an unborn child. The well-known phrase “a drop of nicotine kills a horse” should be remembered by women whenever they pick up a cigarette. If for an adult in one cigarette there is no dose that can instantly kill him, then for a tiny creature in the stomach, a few puffs made by his mother are enough.

perinatal mortality. Those children who managed to survive in the womb of a smoking mother and be born into the world face a new test - 35% of them die before they reach the 7th day after birth for various reasons. Basically, they have developmental pathologies incompatible with life.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in the Newborn. This is the name of the case when a baby who is not even a year old simply stops breathing in his sleep. Respiratory arrest occurs due to a disruption in the functioning of the imperfect nervous system (including the vegetative system), the development of which is greatly influenced by the inhalation of cigarette smoke by the mother, regardless of whether she herself smokes or is next to smokers.

intrauterine growth retardation. This is the name of the lag of the fetus in weight and size from the norm for the duration of pregnancy. The most mild degree- 2 weeks behind the minimum weight corresponding to the gestational age. For future mothers who smoke, this figure does not mean anything, but a few hundred grams for a newborn is a huge difference. A lagging baby spends all his few strengths on restoring mass, lagging behind his peers more and more in all parameters of neuropsychic and physical development.

placenta previa. The location of the placenta below the baby is a serious pathology and most often leads to an early miscarriage or premature birth. Also, with placenta previa, its premature detachment is possible, which threatens the death of the fetus in utero.

Premature placental abruption. Placental abruption in a smoking woman can occur at any time throughout pregnancy and even during childbirth. Regardless of at what point the pathology appeared, this process requires immediate medical attention, but it is often irreversible. With placental abruption from the uterine wall to a quarter of the total area, the child suffers from a severe lack of oxygen. With an increase in the area of ​​detachment to a third, the fetus dies.

Premature rupture of amniotic fluid. Throughout pregnancy, the fetus is protected by water from infection, they also allow the child to breathe and move normally. In case of premature rupture amniotic sac and outflow of waters, the child will die if it is not born within the next 12 hours. Further development of events depends on the period at which the waters receded. If this happened later than 38 weeks, then the birth that took place under the supervision of a doctor most often ends successfully, but if the pregnancy is premature, then the fetus may die or be born with numerous pathologies.

Is it possible or not to quit smoking during pregnancy?

The opinion of doctors on this matter is unequivocal. Quitting smoking should be done long before the onset of pregnancy or, if the pregnancy is unplanned, as soon as it became known.

In women's forums dedicated to childbearing and motherhood, there are more and more messages about the dangers of abruptly quitting smoking during pregnancy. This is explained by the stress that the mother experiences from a lack of nicotine and attempts to fight her bad habit, which in turn affects the development of the fetus and the well-being of pregnancy.

If you look at this issue in more detail, then in fact the body of a pregnant woman does not experience more stress when quitting smoking than, for example, from standing in a long line or any other domestic inconvenience. The nicotine dependence of most women is also greatly exaggerated, because the experience of smoking many of them does not even reach 5 years. Even with longer smoking, it is enough to compare the stress of giving up a bad habit with the stress that a woman experiences when thinking about possible pathologies when smoking during pregnancy. Is it possible or not so irresponsible to approach health little man there should be no doubt. Such messages are a made-up opinion that smoking pregnant women use as an excuse.

Cigarette substitutes during pregnancy. Can they be used or not?

Women who are not psychologically ready to quit smoking, but who understand the need for this, come up with various ways to do it smoothly. Advertising offers a variety of products, substitutes for cigarettes, which, according to their manufacturers, are less harmful and, in time, will allow you to get rid of the addiction.

Tablets, patches, sprays, chewing gum containing nicotine

All these drugs are strictly forbidden to use during pregnancy. The nicotine contained in them is quite enough to cause all the consequences that during smoking. The placenta cannot filter nicotine, so it gets to the baby, causing oxygen starvation of the brain, developmental delay, causing nicotine addiction in the fetus. It is women who smoke during pregnancy who most often have questions in the future about the causes of childhood smoking.

E-Sigs

The principle of electronic cigarettes is not much different from the action of tablets and patches. Despite the absence of an unpleasant smell of tobacco, electronic cigarette cartridges still contain nicotine, which has a detrimental effect on the health of the expectant mother and baby. Strictly speaking, replacing an ordinary cigarette with an electronic one, a woman gets rid of only an unpleasant smell, but this has nothing to do with improving the body.

Hookah

Tobacco smoke contains in addition to nicotine, heavy metals, carbon monoxide, arsenic and others harmful substances that poison the body. The information that the water through which the smoke passes in a hookah purifies it is nothing more than a myth invented for advertising purposes. In addition, flavors, dyes and other chemicals are added to tobacco for hookahs to improve the perception of taste, resulting in a mixture that is categorically contraindicated for use by any person, especially a pregnant woman.

You need to quit smoking immediately and forever, or at least until the end of breastfeeding. This is the only way to protect your unborn child and keep him healthy. Any auxiliary means only take away precious time, during which irreversible consequences can occur, because all the main organ systems are laid in the first trimester, when every day for the fetus is a huge leap in development.

Psychological aspect: how easy is it to quit smoking during pregnancy?

It has been proven that smoking causes psychological dependence, and only in the second dependence on nicotine. Accordingly, it is necessary to cope with smoking at the level of consciousness.

Doctors and scientists have written many books and brochures about the dangers of smoking. All the consequences described in them (cancer, asthma, bronchitis, infertility, etc.) are also related to pregnant women, but first of all, the expectant mother should think about her child. If for herself the danger of nicotine consumption is extended in time, then for a child it is a matter of life and death within a few weeks, at most, months. You need to act quickly and decisively.

Most people who want to quit smoking but don't do so haven't really made that decision consciously. As in adolescence, they were told by acquaintances that smoking was great, so now other acquaintances say the opposite. Those who want to quit smoking did not have their own opinion on this matter, and still do not. A pregnant woman is pressured by public opinion, and she begins to hide from people or look for an excuse to continue smoking during pregnancy. Whether or not to continue habitual image life, each expectant mother decides for herself and is obliged to bear responsibility for her act.

Unlike other people, a woman in position has a huge advantage to quit smoking. From the most important witness of her weakness, she will never hide. For every puff in the future, she will have to pay at best. sleepless nights at the bedside of a sick child. Awareness of this fact will help you make a quick decision, because by deciding to keep the pregnancy, the expectant mother takes on a huge responsibility in the future for the physical and moral health of her child. Already now she needs to decide what is more important: to smoke a cigarette (even if it brings a momentary pleasure) or to enjoy the success of her child all her life.