What Do You Know About Smoking During Pregnancy?
This quiz will help you learn how smoking affects your baby.
1. Most babies of women who smoke weigh the same as babies of women who don't smoke.
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They weigh an average of a half-pound less and are more likely to be born early and need special care after birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Smoking nearly doubles a woman's risk of having a baby with low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds). The average newborn weighs about 8 pounds. Low-birth-weight babies who are born to women who smoke are at an increased risk for illness and death.
2. Smoking increases the risk for premature and stillborn babies.
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Recent studies also suggest that smoking increases the risk for preterm delivery by about 30 percent, the CDC says. Generally, the average length of pregnancy is 40 weeks. Preterm birth is defined as an infant born before 37 weeks. According to the March of Dimes, cigarette smoke contains about 2,500 chemicals. Nicotine and carbon monoxide, the same gas that comes from car exhaust, are two of the chemicals that are believed to cause harm to the developing baby. These chemicals can prevent necessary food and oxygen from reaching the developing baby.
3. Mothers who remain smoke-free after their infants are born can protect the children from developing asthma and chronic ear infections.
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Children of mothers who smoke may lag behind in school and may be smaller than children whose mothers don't smoke, according to the American Lung Association. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy and who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth have weaker lungs. Secondhand smoke is smoke from a burning cigarette that is inhaled by a nonsmoker; it can also come from a smoker’s exhalation. A baby’s lungs and airways are small. Breathing smoke-filled air makes it difficult for the baby to breathe and can cause lung problems like pneumonia and bronchitis.
4. Babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy are up to three times more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
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SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants younger than 12 months of age. SIDS is the unexplained death of an infant. Both smoking and being around smoke are risk factors for SIDS.
5. Pregnant women should avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.
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Studies suggest that regular exposure to secondhand smoke may slow down the growth of the fetus, increasing a woman's chances of having a low-birth-weight baby, the CDC says.
6. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have babies with birth defects.
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Babies born to women who smoke during pregnancy are likely to have birth defects such as cleft lip, which is an opening in the lip, or cleft palate, which is an opening in the roof of the mouth.
7. Smoking doesn't increase a woman's risk of having an ectopic pregnancy.
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Smoking increases a woman's risk of an ectopic pregnancy, in which the embryo becomes implanted in a fallopian tube or other abnormal site instead of the uterus.
8. Women shouldn't smoke while they're breastfeeding.
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Nicotine can be transmitted to infants through breast milk.
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