An expectant mother's actions can have a considerable effect on her child. Smoking and drinking are two such actions that can be very harmful to a baby in the womb, increasing the risk of birth defects and complications and even putting the baby's life at jeopardy in certain circumstances. It doesn't take excessive drinking and/or smoking to cause this -- even small amounts might pose a risk.
Smoking Risks
Smoking lowers the weight of your baby by about a half-pound for every pack smoked daily. Stunting your child's growth can adversely affect her health throughout her life. Your child also might suffer from an underdeveloped body and lungs in particular, which could force her to breathe through a respirator shortly after birth. Children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from asthma or be born with a heart defect, and babies are two or three times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome. They might suffer throughout their life from lower IQs, behavioral problems or learning disorders.
Drinking Risks
The most serious consequence of drinking while carrying a child is fetal alcohol syndrome, which could lead to mental retardation, learning disabilities or problems, emotional or behavioral problems, and heart, facial or other internal defects. According to the March of Dimes, fetal alcohol syndrome is the only cause of mental retardation that is fully preventable. A mother's drinking habits could increase the risk of miscarriage, premature birth and possibly stillbirths.
Moderate Use
Most experts agree that even moderate use of cigarettes or light drinking of alcohol can be damaging to your child. A fetus is most susceptible to health problems caused by alcohol and/or cigarettes in the first few weeks, but ill effects can occur throughout the gestation period. For this reason, the only safe approach is to abstain completely from both cigarettes and alcohol.
Considerations
According to "Parents" magazine, the best time to stop drinking or smoking is the moment you and your partner decide to try to have kids. This eliminates the risk of consuming alcohol or smoking cigarettes early in the pregnancy, which can have the most dangerous risks for a child; pregnancies are not always immediately detectable, so you should be mindful that anything you do might have an adverse effect on your baby, whether or not you realize you're pregnant.
