Most pregnant women know that it's not recommended to drink alcohol or smoke during the pregnancy. Yet women who regularly drink and smoke and suddenly find themselves pregnant have a major change to make in their lives in a short amount of time. Alcohol and cigarettes are all addictive, so it can be very hard for a pregnant woman to stop using them even if she knows that they are bad for her baby.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
One of the reasons that it is not recommended for pregnant women to drink alcohol is because they risk causing fetal alcohol syndrome in their unborn baby. According to the American Pregnancy Association, fetal alcohol syndrome occurs when an unborn baby is exposed to alcohol repeatedly in the womb. Not every baby whose mother drinks alcohol while pregnant gets fetal alcohol syndrome, but there is a risk. The American Pregnancy Association states that fetal alcohol syndrome can lead to mental retardation and delays in speech and problem solving abilities.
Learning Disabilities
Apart from developing fetal alcohol syndrome, babies that are exposed to alcohol in the womb tend to have higher rates of learning disabilities, according to the American Pregnancy Association. They explain that alcohol crosses the placental barrier from the woman to her unborn baby, slowing down development. In the long run, this can cause learning disabilities.
Low Birth Weight
According to the March of Dimes, smoking during the pregnancy can lead to low birth weight babies since smoking slows the unborn baby's development. They also explain that low birth weight babies tend to have a harder time growing at a normal rate even later on in life. The more cigarettes a pregnant woman smokes, the higher her changes are of having a low birth weight baby, according to the March of Dimes.
Prematurity
Women who smoke cigarettes during their pregnancy are at a higher risk of delivering their baby prematurely which means before 38 weeks of pregnancy. Placenta previa, a condition where the placenta lays low in the woman's body, is more likely to occur in women who smoke than in women who do not smoke according to the March of Dimes. Additionally, women who smoke are at risk of placenta abruption, where the placenta actually peels away before delivery. All of these factors could contribute to giving birth to a premature baby. Premature babies are sadly at risk for many complications like breathing difficulties, digestive problems and low immune system function, as they are not fully developed when they are born.
