Consequences of smoking during pregnancy
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Introduction
Smoking is a way of abusing drugs. Pregnant mothers are discouraged from smoking drugs as it has so many effects on the unborn child and also to the mother. Smoking affects the health of the unborn child as well as that of the mother. It can lead to preterm birth, low birth weight of the child and also can lead to the death of the infant. This is referred to as (SIDS) the Sudden Infant death syndrome. Smoking highly increases the risks of complications during pregnancy.
Smoking by pregnant mothers passes harmful chemicals pass to the unborn babies. Carbon and nicotine are some of the harmful substances passed to the baby. A pregnant mother should avoid using these drugs as they have so many effects on the unborn baby and also to the mother using these drugs. The following are some of the health effects on the unborn and the pregnant mother.
Premature delivery is one of the effects caused by smoking. Premature birth is whereby the mother gives birth before the actual time of delivery. In this case, she gives birth earlier than required and therefore gives birth to an immature baby which risks its chances to meet the “earth”. This preterm delivery causes death, disability to the infant and also increases the chances of contracting diseases as the infant’s immune system is so weak.
Babies who get the secondhand smoke from their mothers while still in the womb are under high risk of becoming underweight. Babies born with deficient weight are not healthy. According to (Castles, et al., 2017) Babies are considered low birth weight if they weigh less than 2500grams. Results show that only one out of five kids are born underweight. Both young and old mother are under the risk of giving birth to low birth weight children if they smoke during their maternal days.
Babies born by mothers who abuse drug tend to grow very small. Their rate of development is prolonged. The babies are under high risk of getting impaired lung function. According to (Napierala, et.al, 2016) Even as they grow up, they still are under risks of contracting diseases such as asthma, Addiction to smoking substances such as cigarettes, nicotine and many others.
Currently, research shows that babies born by mothers who used to smoke during their pregnancy period die from (SIDS) Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Compared to the kids born to a mother who doesn’t use smoking substances, these kids are under high risk of death. These kids are not strong, and therefore their immune system too is fragile. According to (Mitchell, et.al, 2016) parents who smoke expose their babies to death chances.
Smoking has so many effects as it can also cause miscarriage. Miscarriage is an unexpected loss of pregnancy. Research has shown that this occurs mainly around the first three months of the pregnancy. It is also called a stillbirth. And according to (Pineles, et.al, 2015) The chemicals contained in these cigarettes are very harmful to pregnant mothers as they may make them go through these severe bleeding during the miscarriage period.
Studies have shown that smoking causes ectopic pregnancy. Sometimes these harmful contents contained in the cigarettes cause the fallopian tubes to contract. Contraction of the fallopian tubes prevents the embryo from passing through. This causes the embryo to attach itself outside the walls of the uterus, therefore causing to ectopic pregnancy. This ectopic pregnancy endangers the life of the mother as it has to be removed since it can’t mature from outside the uterus walls.
Placenta previa is also a risk factor caused by smoking during pregnancy. Placenta previa happens when the placenta is attached at the lower part of the uterus. This placenta could be partially or wholly covering the cervix. This happens when the placenta grows inside the uterus but towards the top of the womb. This, therefore, leaves the cervix open for delivery. The placenta, therefore, tears and causes excessive bleeding to the mother.
Smoking too can cause congenital disabilities. This means that the baby has so many complications and health issues. One of the signs of congenital disabilities could be problems related to the heart. This problem related to the heart could be congenital heart problems. (Zhang, et.al, 2015) The baby could also have a cleft lip. This means that the baby will have an opening at the tip of her mouth. This opening could either be at the cleft lip or either the cleft palate, which is the roof of the mouth.
In conclusion, Pregnant mothers should take good care of their lives and those of the unborn lives in them by avoiding the use of substances from their lives. As we have seen the effects of smoking mothers should therefore be careful to bring up very healthy babies into their lives, who don’t have so many complications related to substance abuse.
References
- Castles, Anne, et al. “Effects of smoking during pregnancy: five meta-analyses.” American journal of preventive medicine 16.3 (2017): 208-215.
- Mitchell, Edwin A., et al. “Risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome following the prevention campaign in New Zealand: a prospective study.” Pediatrics 100.5 (2016): 835-840.
- Napierala, Marta, et al. “Tobacco smoking and breastfeeding: effect on the lactation process, breast milk composition and infant development. A critical review.” Environmental research 151 (2016): 321-338.
- Pineles, Beth L., Edward Park, and Jonathan M. Samet. “Systematic review and meta-analysis of miscarriage and maternal exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy.” American journal of epidemiology 179.7 (2015): 807-823.
- Zhang, Jun, et al. “A case-control study of paternal smoking and birth defects.” International journal of epidemiology 21.2 (2015): 273-278.