Smoking during pregnancy

Smoking has a negative impact on health. Many are aware of this, but this does not prevent them from continuing to smoke. But when a woman finds out that she is pregnant, the attitude towards this addiction, in most cases, changes dramatically, since we are talking not only about the woman herself, but also about her child.

Smoking during pregnancy: harm

Smoking significantly affects the condition of a pregnant woman and a child who is still in the womb. In 99% of smokers of the fair sex, pregnancy proceeds with complications, since the baby suffers from intoxication. In fact, the child is a passive smoker. If a woman tries to reduce the number of smoked cigarettes, the baby, like his mother, begins "nicotine hunger". And the consequences can be different. They depend on the period during which the woman smoked.

For example, children of mothers who could not do without cigarettes throughout the entire period of pregnancy become irritable after birth and often cry. Sometimes it even happens that immediately after the first breath, the baby begins to choke and turn blue. This is another manifestation of nicotine hunger.

Children who suffered from intoxication in utero often lag behind in development, are born prematurely, and also have problems with the respiratory tract. Poisoning received in the womb makes itself felt for a long time, since nicotine affects the cells of the brain. Therefore, the baby may sleep poorly, be capricious for no particular reason.

Smoking early in pregnancy

Smoking in the early stages of pregnancy, when the baby has just been conceived, is especially dangerous. At this stage, the placenta has not yet formed completely and, accordingly, the child has no protection at all from nicotine, carcinogens, radioactive elements, foul gas, etc. According to studies, the amount of harmful substances in the blood of the embryo is much higher than even in the mother.

Smoking in the early stages is fraught with the following consequences:

• the appearance of a spasm in the blood vessels of the placenta, which provokes a lack of oxygen and cell nutrition;
• rupture of the placenta;
• childhood leukemia may develop;
• the risk of developing intrauterine pathologies increases;
• most pregnant women who smoke give birth to premature babies.

As statistics show, it is precisely those children whose mothers smoked (or drank) during pregnancy suffer from such abnormalities as "cleft lip" stuttering, squint, etc.

It is during the first trimester of pregnancy that a mother causes the greatest harm to her baby if she continues to smoke. Even if, after a woman found out about her interesting situation, she gave up this habit, the consequences of smoking will still be noticeable.

If the expectant mother continues to smoke in the next 2 trimesters, the placenta may mature prematurely, so the baby will be born prematurely.

How to quit smoking during pregnancy

Although many are of the opinion that cigarettes are a drug, it is quite possible to quit this addiction. The most difficult period is the first 24 hours. The main thing is not to succumb to temptations. It is necessary to try to reduce communication with smokers, think more about pregnancy and the health of the unborn baby.

Pregnant women are not advised to quit smoking abruptly. It is advisable to stretch the fight against smoking for 2-3 weeks, gradually reducing the number of cigarettes per day. In the first week, you should smoke half as much, then switch to lighter cigarettes.

In the second week, it is necessary to reduce the number of consumed cigarettes by 2 times, and also try not to smoke them to the end. Just a few puffs will satisfy your nicotine hunger, so there is no need to smoke until the end.

The third week should finally help you forget about nicotine. If the craving for cigarettes is very strong, the heart is pounding quickly, the head is spinning, a couple of puffs will help get rid of the signs of nicotine deficiency. But you can't smoke a cigarette to the end. It is necessary to minimize the amount of nicotine that enters the body.

If you follow simple rules, it will be easier for a pregnant woman to quit smoking without harming her baby.