Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy

In this case, when a woman smokes cigarettes during her nine months she is passing all of the chemicals found in cigarettes to her unborn baby. This exchange of chemicals from mother to baby is harmful for both of their health, but especially for the baby’s health. The chemicals from nicotine poisoning that are getting passed on to the baby deprives that fetus from getting the nutrients it needs from its mother. By the time the baby is born its lungs will be in terrible condition because the nicotine chemicals have destroyed any healthy enzymes that the baby had in its body. The baby may have respiratory issues where it cannot breathe on its own. The baby will then have to be hooked up to a ventilator and placed in an incubation tube until its oxygen levels are high enough to where it can breathe on its own. In the worst case scenario, the baby might have to be placed on an organ donor transplant list to receive a new lung or lungs because the damage from the mother smoking cigarettes has completely ruined the baby’s lungs to where they are not able to be corrected by doctors. This can cause a baby to stay in the hospital for several weeks to months. A long term effect of smoking cigarettes while pregnant can cause the baby to develop asthma once it is born. The baby’s asthma can be contributed to its lungs and respiratory issues it had presented at the time of birth, which was triggered by the nicotine poisoning. A newborn can also be born with heart defects

Substance abuse during pregnancy can have a negative force on the health and wellness of not only the fetus, but that of the mother. The harmful effects of medications, alcohol and illegal drugs on an unborn child can be devastating and can have significant consequences to its use. Sometimes the effects can be faced and treated, and other times the outcome is a lifelong challenge. During the prenatal period, it is important that new mothers are informed of the different types of abuse, how they may affect the fetus, and the adverse conditions their child may be faced with before and after birth.

Through the years, substance misuse in the United States has turned into an industrious issue influencing numerous people. In 2008, it was assessed that 17.8 million Americans beyond 18 years old where substance subordinate. Women who use medications during pregnancy can have an enduring impact on fetal. Medications can have an impact of maternal and child wellbeing, yet there are a lot of different variables, which influence it, poor social environment, nourishment, cleanliness, and sexual abuse. Regenerative interruption connected with heroin utilization has been shown in both and women and even low dosages of opiates can impede ordinary ovarian capacity and ovulation. The harm that goes hand in hand with substance utilization comes either straightforwardly from the impact of the medication itself or from issues identified with development and/or unexpected labor. The entanglements of jumbling components clamorous way of life, poor nourishment, liquor utilization and cigarette smoking influence the appraisal of the impacts of cocaine in pregnancy. In obstetric practice, 100% of pregnant women utilizing cocaine or heroin are cigarette smokers. Cigarette smoking is presumably the most well known manifestation of substance utilizes and is noteworthy corresponding considering ladies who use unlawful medications. Babies whose moms smoked in pregnancy have a tendency to have lower conception weights and diminished length, cranial and thoracic

The use of illicit drugs and abuse of alcohol exact a steep price from our society. Substance abuse is a factor in many serious ills such as crime. More upsetting, however, is the affects that it has on children born affected from their dependent mothers. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 60 percent of women of childbearing age consume alcoholic beverages despite the fact that alcohol consumption during pregnancy is implicated in a wide range of birth defects and developmental disabilities, including mental retardation, physical abnormalities, and visual and auditory impairments. (Nevitt, 1996)

Even though there are many studies that highlight the damaging effects of maternal alcohol use on a fetus in utero, there are a multitude of other substances that are used by pregnant mothers that have similar and even, in some cases, more extreme repercussions such as marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. When speaking about pregnancy and drug use, the most common drug that comes to mind is alcohol. During 12 years of schooling, most people are exposed, at one point or another, to the idea of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the detrimental effects of alcohol on a fetus in utero. The effects of maternal use of the aforementioned illicit drugs is less studied, partially because they are used less frequently. It is important, however, that as a population, we become more educated about these drugs and the potentially life threatening outcomes for babies in utero.

Substance abuse has been a worldwide problem at all levels of society since the beginning of time. Attention has been made toward the use of legal and illegal substance by pregnant women over the past several decades. Almost all drugs are known to cross the placenta and have some effect on the fetus. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2013) the first studies of the effect of substances consumed by a pregnant women to the developing fetus were identified in the 1960’s of prenatal tobacco use. These studies opened the door to further research and studies. The effects of Alcohol and opiate use have been studied since the 1970’s (Jones, Smith, 1973) and the effects of a variety of other drugs have been studied since 1979 and early 1980’s (Flinnegan, 1979).

In the United States, there has been a growing concern for the number of newborn children that have been exposed to drugs while in utero. The defenseless fetus is subject to any and all substances that the mother ingests, injects, or inhales into her body. Significantly decreased gestational ages as well as low birth weight have been linked to infants that have been born to mothers who are engaging in substance abuse. Marijuana, cocaine, cigarettes, methamphetamine, heroin, and alcohol are some of the more widely abused substances among pregnant mothers (Bailey, McCook, Hodge, & McGrady, 2012).

In the United States, prenatal substance use continues to be a widespread problem with the addictive substances used during pregnancy; the risk factors, and the long-term effects a baby can have. When a pregnant woman uses drugs, she and her unborn child face serious health problems. Long-term effects of drugs on babies can include behavioral problems as they grow older. They can also be born addicted to the drugs used to treat the mother’s addiction. The task at hand is to make sure that we view all drugs of abuse through a common lens, regardless of legal status, so that their impact on child outcome can be adequately assessed leading to appropriate policy

Prenatal cocaine use is a severe issue that can cause children many health problems from the moment of conception to birth and even well after. Cocaine is a teratogen, which means that is extremely problematic to lifelong child development. The use of cocaine while being pregnant can cause a detrimental effect to a child’s central nervous system. Prenatal cocaine use is one of the leading causes of children born at a lower birth weight than average, this then causes even more developmental issues later on in the child’s life. It has been also shown that children exposed to cocaine use in utero have shown signs of attention deficit in their later years of development. Developmental concerns due to the prenatal use of cocaine are matters

There are many reasons why pregnant substance abuse should be treated as a major issue. The effects of substance abuse on the mother, fetus, and the overall pregnancy can range from none to extremely harmful. Women who use drugs during their pregnancy commonly give birth to “crack babies” or “drug babies”. These babies can have developmental disabilities or other birth defects. The mother may give birth to a premature infant, underweight infant, or even have a stillborn birth. The drug use of a pregnant woman has a direct impact on the baby. While the mother is ingesting methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, tobacco, or even caffeine, the fetus is also taking it in. For example, the negative effects of cocaine on the mother can

Becoming a mother can be a rather challenging time for many parents, especially new parents. This experiment will educate women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant on the risks of their behaviors dealing with drugs and alcohol throughout their pregnancy. The purpose of this experiment is to show how often these horrible things happen to unborn children and the effects that drugs and alcohol have on children throughout the first few years of their life and throughout the course of their life, for some children. This experiment is also happening to try and prevent children from having these types of birth defects due to the lack of knowledge that parents have on the cons of abusing drugs and alcohol during the course of a pregnancy.​

With the knowledge that smoking causes approximately one in every five deaths in the United States each year, the question still remains of why people still smoke. This addiction is harmful to all those who encounter the smoke, including the unborn child who hasn’t even opened his eyes yet. Research shows that many of the components of nicotine have the ability to cross the placenta and intern result in growth and neurodevelopment problems during childhood and later on in life. There is limited research regarding the visional difficulties of children whose mother’s were exposed to smoke during pregnancy. The review article, “Smoking during pregnancy and vision difficulties in children:

Any alcohol that is consumed by the mother enters the fetal bloodstream in approximately the same concentrations as in the mother’s bloodstream...”(Godfrey). This shows that when a pregnant woman consumes alcohol it enters the baby’s bloodstream in around the same concentration as in the mother’s. As research also shows, “...However, there is plenty of proof that smoking during pregnancy is hazardous. Smoking affects blood flow and oxygen delivery to a baby, and therefore their growth.Cigarette smoking is the single most common cause of low birth-weight babies, which in turn is the most common cause of death and illness in the first few weeks of life.”(Stickler). This shows how smoking can affect the growth of an unborn baby and is the most common cause of low birth weight due to the fact that it affects blood flow and oxygen transportation. In order for a mother to keep her developing baby healthy a safe she must avoid consumption of alcohol as well as any form of

One of the most common effects of smoking while pregnant is premature labor. A premature birth is any birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Premature labor is one of the leading causes of neonatal deaths. Around 15% of babies born premature die within the first month. In the article Associations between Passive Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy and Preterm Birth: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies the authors point out that smoking tobacco while pregnant is a contributing factor for premature birth (4-5). Some doctors will tell the patients not to quit smoking only to cut back as much as they can because quitting to suddenly could cause too much stress on your body. This is a valid point, but there are

The article, Effect of Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy on Offspring's Cognitive Ability: Empirical Evidence for Complete Confounding in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth , written by three gentlemen: G. David Batty, Geoff Der and, Ian J. Deary addressed the impact on prenatal health by mothers that smoke cigarettes and the impact on infant development through young adulthood. There were numerous studies that reported maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy related to lower IQ scores in offspring. Prenatal development stages are three stages of about 36 weeks, during this time the mothers that were smoking lead to major structural abnormalities. Smoking tobacco can have serious consequences, such as miscarriage, prematurity,