Smoking During Pregnancy

 
    Smoking Kills - we saw this on cigarette packs but don't you think that smoking is not only not good for you  but your baby too. In fact, so many pregnant woman who cannot stop smoking during their pregnancy, the reason is so unreasonable, "its too early to stop smoking because my pregnancy is still 4weeks or smoking in first four months doesn't harm my baby." this is totally not TRUE, smoking can affect your baby either your pregnancy still in first trimester or not. do you guys know that cigarette smoke contains more than 4.000 chemicals? so, if you smoking during pregnancy this toxic brew gets into your bloodstream. and remember your baby's only source of oxygen and nutrients!

    While none of  those 4.000+ chemicals is good for your baby there are two chemicals that very harmful:
1. Nicotine
2. Carbon Monoxide
Nicotine and Carbon Monoxide work together to reduce your baby's supply of oxygen. Nicotine chokes off oxygen by narrowing blood vessels throughout your body, including the ones in the umbilical cord. it's a litte like  forcing your baby to breathe through a narrow straw. to make matters worse, the red blood cells that carry oxygen start to pick up molecules of carbon monoxide instead. suddenly, that narrow straw doesn't even hold as much as it should.

    Smoking during pregnancy doubles the chances that a baby will born too early or weight less than 5 1/2 pounds at birth and smoking also more than doubles the risk of stillbirth. that's why every cigarette you smoke increases the risk to your pregnancy. maybe you think a few cigarette a day are safer than a whole pack, but the difference isn't as great as you might think. even just one or two cigarette will significantly tighten blood vessels. this is a "light" habit can give a huge effect on your baby's health.

This is how smoking affect your baby:
1. Weight and Size
    As I mentioned, how smoking affect to your baby's weight and size, your baby only source of oxygen and nutriens. smoking a pack-a-day will shave about a half-puond from a baby's birth weight, two packs a day could make your baby a full pound or more lighter. while some women may welcome the prospect of delivering a smaller baby, stunting a baby's growth in the womb can have negative consequences that last a lifetime.

2. Body and Lungs
    Undersize babies tend to have underdeveloped bodies. their lungs may not be ready to work on their own, they may spend their first days or weeks attached to a respirator and after they're breathing on their own, these babies may have continuing breathing problems (this is effects of nicotine). children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are especially vulnerable to asma or have a risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

3. Heart
    Babies whose mother smoked in the first trimester of pregnancy are more likely to have a heart defect at birth. these babies risk of having certain types of congenital heart defects was 20 to 70 higher that it was for babies whose moms didn't smoke.

4. Brain Funtion
    Children of pregnant smokers are especially likely to have learning disorders, behavioral problems and relatively low IQs.

It's not too late, immediately taking steps toward can give huge impact to your life of course your baby. Just remember one thing, while women out there dreaming of having pregnancy, should you who having pregnancy ruin it with a trivial thing but fatal? Absolutely NO.

A woman is the beginning of life and start it by giving the best during your pregnancy. 

Stop Smoking starts from NOW! the sooner the better.

source: http://www.babycenter.com