Few women would force a baby to smoke a cigarette, but that is essentially what a pregnant woman does when she smokes. The medical advisory board for the popular parenting website BabyCenter.com states that smoking may be the number-one cause of adverse outcomes for babies. Luckily, women who are able to quit smoking during pregnancy time can substantially reduce or even eliminate these health risks, says the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
Low Birth Weight
Smoking is known to hinder the proper growth of a fetus and contributes to babies born with a lower birth weight. In fact, the March of Dimes states that smoking doubles a woman's chance of having a bay born at a low birth weight baby, which is a baby born less at than five and a half pounds. These low-birth-weight babies have a greater chance of experiencing many serious health problems and lifelong complications due to their low birth weight, including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, behavior problems and learning problems. Infant mortality rates for low-birth-weight babies are also higher than average.
Birth Defects
Women who smoke anytime during the last month of pregnancy put their babies at greater risk for developing a birth defect, particularly a congenital heart defect, says the March of Dimes. This risk seems to be directly correlated to the number of cigarettes a woman smoked, with those smoking more having a greater chance of these defects.
Premature Rupture of Membranes
Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) also occurs more frequently in women who smoke. This condition occurs when the sac of water that contains the baby breaks before the baby is ready to be born. When this happens before the 37th week of pregnancy, it often results in premature delivery of the baby.
Pregnancy Complications
The March of Dimes states that cigarette smoking doubles a pregnant woman's risk for developing problems with her placenta. Placenta previa, a condition where the placenta covers all or part of the opening of the cervix, is more common in women who smoke. Placental abruption, a condition where the placenta detaches from the uterine wall before delivery, is also more likely for women who smoke. Both of these conditions are dangerous to both mother and baby.
Stillbirth
Stillbirth is the name for a condition wherein the baby dies in utero before it could be born. The chances of stillbirth are more than doubled when a woman smokes during pregnancy, states BabyCenter.com.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
The health risks of smoking while pregnant do not just occur during pregnancy or birth, but can carry on well after the baby is born. The risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is three times as likely for babies whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy than it is for babies of nonsmokers, warns the March of Dimes.
