Smoking During Pregnancy | Dr Elsa

 

 

Pregnancy and smoking

Smoking during pregnancy increases your and your unborn child's chance of significant health problems. Passive smoking can harm you and your unborn kid. According to Australian studies, approximately 9% of pregnant mothers smoked in 2019.

If you smoke while pregnant, you are more likely to have a miscarriage or have premature labor. You are also twice as likely to have a low birth weight kid than a nonsmoking mother. Low birth weight newborns have a higher risk of death and are more susceptible to infection, respiratory difficulties, and long-term health problems in adulthood.

The more cigarettes you smoke while pregnant, the higher your chances of problems and having a low birth weight baby. However, reducing the quantity of cigarettes you smoke will not lower the majority of the risks to you and your kid. Stopping smoking totally early in your pregnancy is the greatest way to preserve your and your baby's health. However, quitting at any time reduces harm.

Pregnancy complications from smoking

Women who do smoking some of the pregnancy complication are facing by then are the same

• ectopic pregnancy – This is pregnancy outside the uterus, typically in the fallopian tube.

• fetal death – death of the baby in your uterus (stillbirth)

• spontaneous abortion – known as miscarriage

• premature rupture of the membranes

• problems with the placenta, including early detachment from the uterine wall and blocking the cervical opening (placenta praevia)

• premature labour.

Smoking during pregnancy – effects on your unborn baby

If you are pregnant, each cigarette you smoke decreases oxygen to your unborn child and exposes them to a variety of hazardous toxins.

Cigarette smoke has numerous harmful impacts on your unborn baby, including:

• Tobacco smoke causes reduced oxygen supply and nutrients

• slows growth and development

• Increases the risk of birth defects like cleft lip and cleft palate

• weakens fetal movements for at least an hour

• impairs placental development

• harms brain and lung development.

Smoking and breastfeeding

Breastfeeding provides numerous benefits, including protecting your infant against chest and ear infections, as well as gut and lung ailments. Quitting smoking during breastfeeding is really beneficial.

Smoking while breastfeeding can create the following problems:

• Nicotine and other toxins found in cigarette smoke can travel from you to your baby via breastfeeding.

• Smoking can affect both milk output and breast milk quality.

• Smoking during breastfeeding puts your infant at risk of a variety of health issues, including colic and interrupted sleep habits.

Women who smoke are less likely to breastfeed and wean their children earlier than nonsmokers.

If you are thinking that it is difficult to quit smoking:

• Try not to smoke before or during meals. To give your body as much time as possible to eliminate nicotine from your breastmilk, breastfeed your baby first, then smoke your cigarette shortly afterward. If you're quitting with a nicotine lozenge, mouth spray, gum, or inhalator, follow the same steps.

• Don't smoke around your baby; go outside to smoke.

Smoking during pregnancy can cause problems for your child in later life

Smoking during pregnancy can have long-term negative consequences for your child's health. Health impacts could include:

• weaker lungs

• higher risk of asthma

•  risk of being overweight and obese in childhood in increased 

• increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

• low birth weight, which is linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure in adulthood

• The risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) can be three times higher.

Pregnancy and stopping smoking

Speak with your maternity care team about how they can assist you. You may design a quit plan together.You can also contact the Quitline (Tel. +971 4 554 7273). Quitline counsellors will provide free assistance during your pregnancy and for some time afterward to help you stay quit. Aboriginal Quitline Counsellors are also accessible.

If you're struggling to quit smoking, don't give up. It's never too late to stop smoking. Quitting smoking by the fourth month of pregnancy can lower some of the risks, including low birth weight and early birth. Stopping smoking at any moment improves oxygen flow to your kid.

Nicotine replacement therapy during pregnancy

It is recommended that you initially try to quit smoking without medicines. If you are unable to quit smoking then you can utilize nicotine replacement therapy (gum, lozenges, mouth spray, inhalator, or 16-hour patches) to assist you. While these products are thought to be safer than smoking, even the lower dose of nicotine may pose a risk to your kid.

If you are pregnant, you should consult your doctor about the risks and advantages of undergoing nicotine replacement therapy. Counsellors at the Quitline can also assist you in determining the appropriate type of support for you.

Where to get help

• Your GP (doctor)

• Your obstetrician