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Smoking During Pregnancy: The Harmful Effects it has on the Baby
“Up to five percent of infant deaths could be prevented if pregnant women did not
smoke” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “The nicotine, carbon monoxide, and numerous other
poisons inhaled from a cigarette are carried through the bloodstream and go directly to the baby”
(WebMD, 2012). This is a serious problem that should make pregnant women quit smoking but
the nicotine found in cigarettes is extremely addictive making it difficult to quit. It doesn’t help
that the quit aids available such as nicotine gum, sprays, pills and patches will also harm the
baby. The only thing to do for those women wanting to quit because of pregnancy is to provide
support and keep informing them of all the negative effects smoking will harm their baby. These
effects have been shown to increase the chance of having a miscarriage, a small-for-date baby,
and a baby with respiratory problems.
A miscarriage is when a baby dies in the womb before 20 weeks of pregnancy. As many as
half of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, it’s hard to know an exact number because many may
happen before a woman knows she is pregnant. “Among women who know they are pregnant,
about ten to fifteen percent end in miscarriages.” Most miscarriages happen in the thirteen weeks
of pregnancy, only “one to five percent” of miscarriages happen between thirteen and nineteen
weeks (Poulsen & Dossing, 2013). “The nicotine in cigarette smoke constricts blood vessels,
which reduces the oxygen and nutrients that can reach the fetus via the placenta. Therefore,
pregnant women who smoke are more likely to miscarry” ( Kail & Zolner, 2012). That does not
mean that once a pregnant woman is past twenty weeks smoking won’t harm the baby. March of
Dimes Foundation (2013) explains:
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SmokingDuringPregnancy
“In later pregnancy, smoking mothers are at an increased risk of the baby’s placenta
coming away from the womb before the baby is born (placenta abruption). This may
cause the baby to be born prematurely, starve of oxygen, or even die in the womb
(stillborn)” (“Miscarriage,” para. 3).
Experiencing a miscarriage or a stillborn is not only emotionally difficult to move on from but
they can also lower the chance of becoming pregnant again.
Another serious risk being taken by women who smoke during pregnancy is increasing
their babies’ chance of being born small-for-date. Small-for-date infants can be born prematurely
or after the full nine month term but are substantially smaller than would be expected based on
the length of time since conception. “Babies that weigh less than 1500 grams at birth often do not
survive; when they do, they are usually delayed in their cognitive and motor development” (Kail
& Zolner, 2012). Small-for-date “infants are most often born to women who smoke cigarettes
during pregnancy,” they are also more vulnerable to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Sudden infant death syndrome is when a healthy baby dies unexpectedly for no apparent reason.
The chances of SIDS is not only increased by the mother smoking during pregnancy but also by
the infant being exposed to smoke after birth. “In Canada, three babies die every week from
SIDS” (Kail & Zolner, 2012). That’s nearly a hundred and fifty babies that die in Canada every
year for no reason except being exposed to cigarette smoke either during or after pregnancy.
Lastly, undersized babies tend to have underdeveloped bodies and organs. This means
their lungs may not be developed enough to work on their own and the baby will have to spend
some time hooked up to a respirator. “After they’re breathing on their own, these babies will
have continuing breathing problems because of delayed lung development or other adverse
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SmokingDuringPregnancy
effects of nicotine. Children whose mothers smoke are more vulnerable to asthma” (Woolston,
2013). “Asthma is the most common serious chronic childhood disease, and it's the third most
frequent cause of hospitalization in children under 15 years of age” (Woolston, 2013). Children
with asthma will have respiratory problems for their whole lives. This means when children run
outside for recess, a child with asthma will have to either wait for a teacher to help with a puffer
or even stay inside and miss recess all together depending on the severity of the asthma.
The scary yet incredibly sad facts of one’s baby dying before birth, being born
unhealthily small and with lung defects should be enough to make any pregnant woman quit
smoking but unfortunately the truth is that “fifteen to twenty percent of women smoke tobacco
during pregnancy despite a strong public-health campaign over the last few decades” (Anblagan,
Jones, Costigan, Parker, & Allcock, 2013). It seems like things have to get exceedingly horrible
before people start to listen. Does this mean that even more innocent children have to die or
become critically ill due to women smoking during pregnancy before pregnant women listen?
Maybe it’s one of those “I never thought it could happen to me” things and women won’t listen
until they lose a child of their own. This is an issue that would best suit a proactive solution
rather than reactive.
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SmokingDuringPregnancy
References
American Cancer Society, Inc. (2013). Smoking can affect your baby’s health. Retrieved
November 2, 2013, from
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/womenandsmoking/women-
and-smoking-health-of-others
Anblagan D, Jones NW, Costigan C, Parker AJJ, Allcock K, (2013). Maternal Smoking during
Pregnancy and Fetal Organ Growth: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. PLoS ONE
8(6): e67223. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067223
Kail, Robert V. & Zolner, Theresa. (2012). Children: a chronological approach. -3rd Canadian ed.
Page 85.
Kail, Robert V. & Zolner, Theresa. (2012). Children: a chronological approach. -3rd Canadian ed.
Page 99.
Kail, Robert V. & Zolner, Theresa. (2012). Children: a chronological approach. -3rd Canadian ed.
Page 103
March of dimes foundation (2013) retrieved October 27 2013, from
http://www.marchofdimes.com/loss/miscarriage.aspx
NetDoctor.co.uk (2013). Pregnancy and smoking. Retrieved October 29, 2013, from
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/pregnantsmoking.htm
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WebMD, LLC. (2012). Smoking during pregnancy. Retrieved October 27 2013, from
http://www.webmd.com/baby/smoking-during-pregnancy
Woolston, Chris. (2013) How smoking will affect you and your baby. Reviewed by the Baby
Center Medical Advisory Board. Retrieved October 28 2013, from
http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-smoking-during-pregnancy-affects-you-and-your-
baby_1405720.bc?showAll=true
Woolston, Chris. (2013) Asthma. Reviewed by the Baby Center Medical Advisory Board.
Retrieved October 28 2013, from http://www.babycenter.com/0_asthma_74.bc?page=2
