The harm of smoking to the fetus

We know that pregnancy is actually quite painful for pregnant women. In the eyes of some people, pregnant women are very happy and all they have to do is eat and sleep. However, they don’t know that pregnancy is actually quite hard. Some pregnant women even smoke. So do you know what harm smoking before pregnancy will have on your baby?

Smoking during pregnancy is harmful to the health of the fetus. This is because tobacco contains more than 1,200 toxic substances, including nicotine, which is well known to everyone, as well as hydrocyanic acid, ammonia, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, pyridine, aromatic compounds and tar.

First, these toxic substances can be absorbed into the mother's blood along with the smoke, reducing the blood oxygen content in the mother. At the same time, the oxygen content in the placental blood also decreases. As a result, the risk of slow growth and development due to lack of oxygen in the fetus, or babies born weighing less than 2,500 grams is twice as high as that of non-smoking women. These children are not only physically weak and shorter than average children, but also have poor intellectual development. They are at high risk of developing serious illnesses within one year after birth and have a high mortality rate. The UK National Children's Bureau recently reported that women who smoke during pregnancy can cause their children's intellectual development to slow down until the age of 19. Many studies in recent years have also shown that mothers who smoke are more likely to suffer miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth than non-smoking mothers. There is also an increased risk of congenital malformations in the babies born.

Secondly, smoking has a direct effect on the fetus, accelerating the fetal heart rate and reducing respiratory movements. Nicotine and other poisons in cigarettes can also penetrate the placenta through the blood, be transported to the fetus, and even cause damage to organs that are not yet fully functional. Smoking during pregnancy not only causes great harm to the fetus, but is also very harmful to their own health. Some people report that pregnant women who smoke are 1-2 times more likely to experience complications such as placental abruption, bleeding, and premature rupture of membranes during labor than normal pregnant women.

So no matter what the reason is, it is wrong for pregnant women to smoke. Some people may think that it is okay to smoke one or two cigarettes, but in fact, once you have this idea, you will always want to smoke. So for your own health and the health of your baby, it is better not to smoke during pregnancy.