Cigarette smoking is said to be responsible for 87% of lung cancer death. Even the manufacturers of this cigarette tell you that cigarettes are bad for your health. It is a wonder that people still smoke knowing all these information. Cigarette smoking is also said to be responsible for other illness such as lung disease, heart and blood vessel disease, stroke and cataracts.
As reported by Baby Center, smoking and secondhand smoke can increase the risk for miscarriage, birth defects, and other complications of pregnancy, and they can also lower your odds of getting pregnant in the first place.
Even with all this information some women smoke during their pregnancy not only putting their life but also their unborn baby’s life in danger. Let’s highlight some of the reasons why it is completely bad to smoke during pregnancy.
According to WebMD, Smoking during pregnancy affects you and your baby's health before, during, and after your baby is born. The nicotine (the addictive substance in cigarettes), carbon monoxide, and numerous other poisons you inhale from a cigarette are carried through your bloodstream and go directly to your baby.
In June, 2016, The Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) Tobacco Programme Director, Mr. Dapo Rotifa, has warned that smoking during pregnancy is dangerous to the health of the unborn child as well as the pregnant mother.
Rotifa who stated this at a press briefing in Lagos to mark the ‘World No Tobacco Day 2016, explained that the health of a pregnant woman and the unborn child was very important, hence passive smoking should also be avoided, as this could also have a negative effect on them.
In 2016, Eparliament, conducted a survey across the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja and noticed that more teenage girls were found puffing away packs of cigarettes and shisha pots in a single sitting, particularly during weekends. Which highlights the fact that even though smoking is assumed to be more common amongst men, it becoming more rampant among ladies also
"Smoking cigarettes is probably the No. 1 cause of adverse outcomes for babies," says Robert Welch, Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in America. He's seen the complications far too many times: babies born prematurely, babies born too small, babies who die before they can be born at all.
WebMD reported that, smoking while pregnant will:
- Lower the amount of oxygen available to you and your growing baby
- Increase your baby's heart rate
- Increase the chances of miscarriage and stillbirth
- Increase the risk that your baby is born prematurely and/or born with low birth weight
- Increase your baby's risk of developing respiratory (lung) problems
- Increases risks of birth defects
- Increases risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
The more cigarettes you smoke per day, the greater your baby's chances of developing these and other health problems.
There is no "safe" level of smoking while pregnant.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also advises that breathing other people’s smoke make children and adults who do not smoke sick. There is no safe level of breathing others people’s smoke.
- Pregnant women who breathe other people’s cigarette smoke are more likely to have a baby who weighs less.
- Babies who breathe in other people’s cigarette smoke are more likely to have ear infections and more frequent asthma attacks.
- Babies who breathe in other people’s cigarette smoke are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is an infant death for which a cause of the death cannot be found.
It is advised that even if you don’t smoke you stay away from people that smoke. Inhaling smoke from other people is detrimental to the health of your unborn baby. If necessary demand that people don’t smoke in your house or car.