Elkhart County Health Department : Tobacco Control : Tobacco and Pregnancy

Tobacco and Pregnancy

If you're a pregnant smoker...

If you're a pregnant smoker, giving up cigarettes is one of the best things you can do for your baby. But it could also be one of the hardest. Chances are, your smoking is more than just a habit or a way to pass the time. It's an addiction. When you give up that addiction, you can expect to feel cravings — sudden, powerful urges to light up again. When they first strike, these cravings may seem unstoppable, like a riptide pulling you under. But no matter how strong those urges feel, you can be even stronger. You can face your cravings head-on without giving in. Eventually the cravings will pass, leaving you time to cope with other urges, like your fierce but impractical desire to hold your new baby every minute of the day.

What does smoking affect pregnant women and their babies?

Pregnant women who smoke risk the health and lives of their unborn babies.  Smoking during pregnancy is linked with a greater chance of miscarriage, premature delivery, stillbirth, infant death, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).  Up to 10% of infant deaths would be prevented if pregnant women did not smoke.  When a pregnant women smokes, she's smoking for two.  The nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other harmful chemicals enter her bloodstream, pass directly into the baby's body, and prevent the baby from essential nutrients and oxygen for growth. 

What are the effects of smoking during pregnancy?

The baby growing inside a pregnant women who smokes receives all the toxins from cigarette smoke through the mother's bloodstream.  Carbon monoxide prevents the fetus from getting enough oxygen.  Cancer-causing agents in cigarette smoke damage genetic material (DNA), causing an increase in birth defects.  Smoking also significantly increases the risk of having a mentally retarded child.  Pregnant smokers have an elevated chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, and preterm delivery.

  How does secondhand smoke affect my baby?

When cigarette smoke is in the air, babies breathe it too.  If your baby is exposed to secondhand smoke, he or she will have a higher risk of:

  • cold
  • ear infections
  • asthma
  • bronchitis
  • pneumonia
  • SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)
  • cancer

Does smoking affect fertility?

Cigarette smoking can cause reproductive problems before a woman even becomes pregnant. Studies show that women who smoke may have more trouble conceiving than nonsmokers. Studies suggest that fertility returns to normal after a woman stops smoking.

Why many new moms light up again -- and why they shouldn't

You've already made it through the worst of the cravings, and nicotine is long gone from your system, but staying away from cigarettes won't be easy. The postpartum period is a very vulnerable time for new mothers to smoke. For one thing, those months can pack a lot of stress — the kind of stress that leaves you looking for something to calm your nerves. And if you start longing for your pre-baby body, you may be looking for a weight-loss aid. Many women see cigarettes as a quick fix for both problems.

More than anything else, you may feel your motivation slip away as soon as your baby is born.  When a woman is pregnant, she sees that not smoking is the only way to protect her baby.  Once the baby is out of her body, she sees other options, like smoking in a different room or next to an open window.

But smoking with a baby in the house shouldn't really be an option at all. Babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke are twice as likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and they're also especially vulnerable to asthma, pneumonia, allergies, and ear infections. Secondhand smoke can also slow the growth of a baby's lungs, potentially raising the risk of lung disease in adulthood. And some studies suggest that children who've been exposed to tobacco smoke are more likely to have trouble learning, and to develop behavior problems like hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder.

And no matter how careful you are with your cigarettes, smoke will find your baby. It quickly spreads throughout your home even if you light up in another room. In fact, cigarettes will contaminate your baby's environment even if you only smoke outside (because of the nicotine and other toxins that seep from your skin and your clothes).

If you're breastfeeding, every cigarette you smoke will contaminate your milk. Nicotine in breast milk can make your baby agitated and restless, and may cause his heart to beat faster. If you're a heavy smoker, your nursing baby may suffer from diarrhea and vomiting. Heavy smoking will also decrease your milk production, making it harder for you to keep your baby well fed

There's another person who's bound to suffer if you continue to smoke: You. You'll need plenty of stamina to keep up with your little one, and a hacking smoker's cough won't help. The picture only gets worse if you look a few years down the road. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, smoking is the number one cause of heart disease in women under 50. If you quit smoking now, you can cut your risk in half in one year. Smoking is also the leading cause — in fact, it's practically the only cause — of lung cancer, which kills more American women every year than any other cancer, including breast cancer.

Six ways to keep cigarettes at bay:

You want to keep your baby safe, and you want to stay healthy. Those two goals leave you with one choice: Quit smoking for good. Here are some tried-and-true strategies for staying smoke-free:

  1. Put your baby in a stroller and take a quick walk around the neighborhood. The activity, fresh air, and change of scenery will do you good, and if you're looking for a way to lose weight, exercise and a good diet will be far healthier — and far more effective — than smoking.
  2. Find a good counselor or therapist to talk to. If professional private counseling is too pricey for your budget, try group counseling.  Many insurance companies will cover part or most of the cost of counseling as part of smoking cessation treatments.
  3. Develop a network of friends and family members to help you stay away from cigarettes. You can also get support on smoking-cessation Web sites, or by attending meetings of support groups such as Nicotine Anonymous.
  4. Anticipate cravings and have a plan for dealing with them. Call a friend, take a walk, chew some gum — anything that doesn't involve a cigarette. Each craving will only last a few minutes, so your plan doesn't have to be too elaborate.
  5. Avoid places or situations that make you want to smoke. If you used to light up with friends after work, find another way to unwind. If you always had a cigarette with your morning coffee, switch to tea instead.
  6. If you have trouble quitting on your own, ask your doctor for help. Nicotine gums, sprays, or patches may take the edge off your cravings and help you resist the urge to smoke. Note: If you breastfeed and use these products, small amounts of nicotine will enter your breast milk and could affect your baby.

 

Some people have symptoms of depression while quitting. If you're feeling down, talk to your doctor about it.

I'm pregnant. Is it bad for my baby if I smoke one or two cigarettes a day?

One cigarette a day is one too many. Every cigarette you smoke narrows the blood vessels in the umbilical cord, reducing your baby's oxygen supply. Just one or two cigarettes a day can increase the risk of premature delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and other complications. And studies suggest that even light smoking during pregnancy can up your baby's odds for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Your body reacts especially strongly to the first cigarettes of the day.  There's not much difference between smoking ten cigarettes and stopping at nine, but there's a huge gulf in safety between one cigarette and no cigarettes at all.

If you're smoking five or six cigarettes every day, cutting back to one or two probably won't do you or your baby any good. Without even thinking about it, you'll take more puffs from each cigarette and inhale more deeply, giving your body the usual dose of nicotine along with tar and other toxins. Light smokers have just one option if they want to protect their baby's health: Give up smoking entirely.

If you're currently a heavy smoker, you'll definitely be making progress if you can cut down to just a few cigarettes a day. No matter how hard you puff on a couple of cigarettes, they'll never be as dangerous as a whole pack. But don't make cutting back your ultimate goal. Instead, aim to quit completely as soon as you can. If your cravings for cigarettes seem impossible to resist, ask your doctor for help.