Potentially Lethal Effects for Your Child if You Smoke while Pregnant

Many women know that they are putting their unborn child at risk if they smoke while pregnant. They may not know, however, the full extent of that risk. Smoking while pregnant puts the child at risk for a long list of possible consequences. Even just inhaling second hand smoke can have negative effects on a fetus. So, expectant mothers are not just protecting themselves but also the baby that they're carrying. There are very many safe methods to use to quit smoking, as well as support systems in place even if you are not directly supported at home. The following is information on the devastating effects smoking while pregnant can have on your child.

It is common knowledge that when you smoke so does your baby.

So while you are inhaling the hundreds of chemicals added to tobacco, including carbon monoxide and nicotine, your baby is absorbing them. The placenta is what filters all the nourishment for your baby, which means that if you are smoking so is your baby. Carcinogens are poison. The lung functions of a child whose mother smoked while pregnant can be seriously compromised. Asthma and pneumonia are more common for children of smoking mothers. Bronchitis and other chronic respiratory symptoms are also more common. These problems also involve your child's immune system. Because of this, the child is more susceptible to infection.

Smoking while pregnant can have immediate, physical consequences on the baby and it's natural to focus on that. There is increasing evidence that shows a correlation between smoking during pregnancy and behavioral problems in the child. This includes learning disabilities and general behavioral issues.

This should be cause for concern to a woman who smokes during pregnancy.

We don't completely understand the highly negative effects on a baby if the mother smokes. While we are mainly focused on the effects on the unborn baby, these same effects do not go away after childbirth. These far reaching consequences can stay with the child far into adulthood. The effects of the dire consequences of smoking during pregnancy can last the child's lifetime. For the sake of both mother and child, it is vital to quit smoking during pregnancy.