Smoking & pregnancy

Baby's mother

"What's wrong with smoking?"

Smoking during pregnancy has been linked to:

Poor health for the mother

  • miscarriage
  • bleeding
  • nausea

Poor health for the baby

  • poor growth of the foetus
  • premature birth
  • stillbirth
  • low birth weight
  • cot death
  • breathing problems and wheezing in the first six months of life

If you stop smoking during pregnancy you will benefit from:

  • less morning sickness
  • fewer complications
  • a more content baby after birth

"How does smoking affect unborn babies?"

When you inhale smoke you put more than 4000 chemicals, tar, plus carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas, into your body. Carbon monoxide gets into your blood stream and reduces the oxygen reaching your baby. Oxygen helps babies grow. Babies who don't get enough oxygen can be born smaller and weaker.

"I'm already pregnant - isn't the damage done?"

Smoking is harmful throughout your pregnancy. The good news is that when you stop smoking, your baby benefits immediately. When your lungs become smoke-free, the carbon monoxide and chemicals clear from your body and your oxygen levels return to normal.

"What if my partner, friends or family smoke?"

If anyone smokes near you, you become a passive smoker. Passive smoking is dangerous because the harmful gasses and chemicals go to you and the baby. After birth, babies who live in a smoky environment are passive smokers and have a higher risk of cot death.

"I started smoking again after my last pregnancy I want to stay stopped this time"

If you stopped smoking during your pregnancy you've proved to yourself that you can actually do it. Remember how you felt while you were smoke-free. You know you can give up and you can stay stopped this time. If you feel tempted to start again, remind yourself why you stopped.

"Can I use nicotine replacement therapy when I am pregnant?"

If you have found that you cannot give up smoking during your pregnancy you might consider using NRT to help, if your doctor agrees. It is important to weigh up the risks to you and the baby of continuing to smoke and the benefits of stopping using NRT. Taking a short course of NRT is safer than smoking, because unlike cigarettes NRT doesn't contain tar, carbon monoxide, poisons, or cause cancer.

If you have tried to stop before and found "cravings" made it hard to stay stopped, speak to your doctor about your smoking history, your pregnancy and using NRT.

"Can my partner and friends help?"

Yes, your partner, family and friends can all help. Ideally they could try to stop with you. If they can't, they can help by not offering you cigarettes or smoking near you.

"What can I do to help?"

Protecting babies from tobacco smoke in pregnancy and childhood really helps them get a healthier start in life. If you or your partner smoke, try to use this time to stop. You will all benefit. You will have more money, less time off sick, be generally fitter and have improved health.

"How will secondhand smoke affect the baby after he/she is born?"

Babies and children exposed to a smoky atmosphere are:

  • twice as likely to have asthma attacks and chest infections
  • more likely to need hospital care in their first year of life
  • off sick from school more often
  • get more coughs, colds and wheezes

"Some of my family smoke. What can I do about the risk of passive smoking?"

Ideally babies and children should always be in a smoke free atmosphere. If someone wants to smoke in your home, ask them if they'd mind going outside. If this isn't possible, try keeping one well-ventilated room for smokers well away from your baby. This can help reduce your baby's exposure to smoke.

Keeping children and babies away from smoke will help prevent:

  • coughs, colds and chest infections
  • asthma attacks
  • admission to hospital
  • meningitis
  • ear infections and glue ear, which causes partial deafness
  • cot death

"What can you do to protect babies and children?"

You can help protect them by keeping their playing, sleeping and eating areas completely smoke free.

"What about car journeys?"

Secondhand smoke gets even more concentrated inside a car. You can reduce children's travel sickness and make a positive difference to their health if you avoid smoking when they travel with you.

"How can I discourage my children from wanting to smoke?"

Research shows that children who live with smokers are much more likely to start themselves. Smoking is a difficult habit to break, so it is important to encourage children never to start.

"Who can I ask for help to stop smoking?"

Your doctor, midwife, practice nurse, health visitor or pharmacist can offer you advice on giving up smoking.

Contacts

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Based on information taken, with permission, from "S is for Smoking & Pregnancy" and "P is for Protecting Babies & Children From Secondhand Smoke" produced by the Welsh Assembly Government