Cigarette Smoking Effects on Prenatal Development Essay

The second action with exposure to teratogens is smoking. Smoking during a pregnancy can cause multiple problems. Some of those problems could be low birth weight, placenta issues, miscarriage, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), premature birth, or other birth defects.

According to, “Teratogens and their effects on Unborn and Nursing Infants,” published by The University of North Texas, there is a list of common teratogens that are known throughout the world and many reasons that lead to a child having chances for these teratogens. According to Kathleen Stassen Berger, writer of, “The Developing Person through Childhood and Adolescence,” she defines behavioral teratogens to be known as agents and conditions that can harm the prenatal brain, impairing the future child’s intellectual and emotional functioning. The teratogen known for behavioral is known to affect the brain in some occasions if damage is affected a lot more so invading the brain and the child intellectuality to function

Did you or someone you know smoke cigarettes while pregnant? Were you ever around someone smoking while pregnant? Have you been smoking, and recently discovered you were pregnant? “A teratogen is an environmental agent such as a drug, chemical, virus, or other factor that produces a birth defect” (Feldman, 2011 pg. 64). Nicotine is a well-known harmful chemical that is used in cigarettes. It is also a known teratogen.

Teratogens such as alcohol and tobacco could potentially affect normal fetal developmental causing developmental disorders and diseases.5,6

Over the years, statistics show that smoking cigarettes can cause many serious health issues. These issues compound when the smoker is expecting. Fourteen percent of U.S. mothers smoke while pregnant despite knowing the fact that smoking causes harm to both mother and child. In younger mothers, age 25 and under, that number rises significantly to 20 percent. If a woman smokes then becomes pregnant, she must decide whether or not to quit. Woman are aware that cigarettes are not good for them or their baby, but do they understand the severity of smoking while carrying their unborn child in their womb? In this paper I will evaluate how women who smoke while pregnant are at high risk for early miscarriage, preterm birth, and birth defects. Is smoking a cigarette worth risking the life of your unborn child?

More then 15% of women smoking while pregnant. Babies who's mothers smoke have more then 20% higher chance of being born with cleft lip, cleft palates, shortened or missing limbs, and abnormally shaped heads compared to babies born to nonsmoking mothers. Babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are even more likely to have learning disorders and behavioral problems.

As previously mentioned, environmental factors, such as exposure to taratogens, can affect the development of the unborn child. Broderick and Blewitt (2105) define a teratogen as “substances or agents that can cross the placental barrier and produce fetal deformities when taken or absorbed by the mother during pregnancy” (p.619). These substances include drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, pollution, stress hormones, poor nutrition, and diseases, such as AIDS. Consumption of drugs and/or alcohol can lead to low birth weight, as well as, physical, cognitive, and behavioral abnormalities. Furthermore, more recent studies are showing that exposure to pollutants can affect an individual’s development. For example, a study of the

When the fetus is exposed to the teratogens during the prenatal stage, then, in that case, there are significantly high chances that the child will suffer from birth defects (4). There are different factors which are related to the level of exposures to the teratogens; amount of damage that a particular teratogen can have along with the level of dosages, heredity, age of the teratogen and the different other negative influences like that of the combination of teratogens with poor health etc. (1). There are different types of teratogens which pregnant women are advised to avoid like alcohol, prescription drugs/illegal drugs and tobacco. Alcohol use is one of the most use and major problem throughout pregnancy (4). Although it hasn’t been determined how much alcohol is detrimental to pregnant women, it has been found to be one of the major cause of mental disabilities in children in the United States (4). Alcohol usually passes from the mother’s blood stream via the placenta to the fetus. Indeed, maternal drinking is tied to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) with life-long consequences for the new born (1). The research suggests that alcohol exposure to the 19th or 20th of gestation can significantly exposed the new born to facial abnormalities (1). It is unknown how much alcohol is necessary to cause damage, so doctors typically recommend that alcohol should be completely avoided during

The number one risk to unborn babies is smoking.  Smoking during pregnancy reduces the amount of oxygen that the baby receives and increases the risk of miscarriage, bleeding, and morning sickness. Chemicals inhaled while smoking may lead to other health problems with the baby. Reduced birth weight, premature birth, increased risk of SIDS, and stillbirth are other possible consequences. Pregnant women should also avoid second hand smoke, as it carries much of the side effects as actual

A teratogen is a substance that acts as a toxin that can cause a birth defect. A teratogen can be a prescribed medication, a street drug, alcohol use, or even a disease present in the mother that can cause an increased risk for the baby to be born with a birth defect. Some teratogens may cause birth defects that are noticed immediately at birth and some you can’t determine for several years. Usually the more and longer the developing fetus is exposed to teratogens the worse the consequences will be.

According to dictionary.com a teratogen is “a drug or other substance capable of interfering with the development of a fetus, causing birth defects”. Teratogens are also substances that are found in the environment which are known to cause defects in fetal development. Teratogens are one of the leading causes of death to newborns in the nation. “There are four major factors that depend on the extent of fetal defects and those are the dosage, genetic makeup of the mother and the developing fetus, fetal age, an other negative influences on pregnancy” (Berk, 2012). Some of the common teratogens include alcohol consumption, exposure to radiation, environmental pollution, tobacco and or drug use, and certain prescription and non-

A teratogen is a condition, or agent, that expands the possibilities for prenatal irregularity - which can result in birth complications as well as defects. These agents include, chemicals, viruses drugs, pollutants, stress, malnutrition and more (Berger, pg. 73, 2014). However, not all teratogens have physical defects, but rather mental ones. These are called behavioral teratogens and they affect the brain. However, the age and development of the fetus determines how it will be affected. Some teratogens only effect or damage the fetus during a critical period (Berger, pg. 73, 2014). This is why timing of the exposure to a teratogen(s) affects the risk of harm to the fetus. For example, during the last half of week 3 into most of the 6th week,

Teratogens can harm an embryo. Most will not kill an embryo. However, any large quantity of teratogens like nicotine will

While pregnant women who smoke cigarettes on a daily basis can greatly harm their fetus. There are many effects that cigarettes smoking by pregnant women have on their fetus. As researches show that smoking can induce spontaneous abortion too. The Tabaco smoke in cigarettes greatly reduces fetal growth through the presence of nicotine, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide. Through this research, “if women smoke during pregnancy, their baby is exposed to harmful chemicals such as tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide. Nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict, so less oxygen and nutrients reach the fetus. Carbon monoxide decreases the amount of oxygen the baby receives” (Medline plus). A good mother should protect their unborn babies because when a pregnant mother smokes, their babies smoke too. Also Smoking while pregnant reduces an unborn baby’s oxygen, this place at risk for poor lung function, and low birth weight. According to this research of pregnant women who smoke cigarettes “the risk of preterm birth and problems with the way the placenta attaches to the uterus are increases in women who smoke during pregnancy. Also, infants born to women who smoke during pregnancy tend to be smaller than those born to nonsmokers. They are more likely to have asthma, colic, and childhood obesity. They also have an increased risk of dying from sudden infant

Teratogen is the cause or increase the chance of a birth defect. Teratogen that pregnant women exposed are prescribed medication, chemical exposure or an infection present in a mother. I think those can cause an increase chance of the baby to be born with a defect. Nicotine does not produce congenital malformations. Maternal smoking is well –established cause of intrauterine growth restriction. The ionizing radiations can injure the developing embryo due to cell death or chromosome injury. The two effects that teratogens are Diseases (Maternal illness) and Environmental Toxins. benefits of a prenatal test are Identified whether your baby is more likely to have a certain conditions, but they usually can’t make a definitive diagnosis. Prenatal testing provides information about your prenatal testing provides information about your baby's health before he or she is born. Some routine tests during pregnancy also check on your health. Before he or she is born. Some routine tests during pregnancy also check on your health. I don’t think it’s a