Thinking of Having a Baby?
If you are a male or female and are thinking about having a family the time to stop smoking is long before conception occurs. Smoking and second hand smoke can affect your chances of conceiving and can be damaging to reproductive organs, eggs and semen. Smoking during the first trimester can result in a host of problems and issues that can impact both the expectant mother and fetus. Smoking, including the effects of second hand smoke after giving birth, can affect the health and development of the new-born baby.
Teratogens are drugs, chemicals, or even infections that can cause abnormal fetal development and include alcohol, carbon monoxide and nicotine. Smoking and drinking result in high levels of alcohol, nicotine and carbon monoxide in the blood stream.
Carbon Monoxide has a higher affinity for haemoglobin than oxygen and a pack a day smoker will have carboxyhaemoglobin levels as high as 80 ppm and if you smoke all day you always have carbon monoxide in your blood stream that can affect you, your embryo or even your chances of conceiving or delivering.
Nicotine clears the body by way of first-order kinetics. One cigarette has a half life of 2 hours, which means if you smoke during the day you always have both carbon monoxide and nicotine in your blood stream 24-7, 365 days a year. Nicotine, the main psychoactive ingredient in tobacco, readily crosses the placental barrier to cause growth and neurobehavioral abnormalities in the offspring.
Alcohol clears the blood stream slowly by way of zero-order kinetics at a constant rate of 10-15 ml per hour or 1.0 ounce of 100 proof alcohol per hour and you can’t speed up its elimination.
Smoking is bad enough but smoking and drinking is worth quitting if you want to improve your chances of becoming pregnant and having a happy healthy baby.
Effects of Smoking Before Pregnancy
Smoking can adversely affect the ability of individuals to conceive and bear children
Smoking decreases fertility levels in both men and women
Tobacco use has been shown to cause erectile dysfunction (ED) in men
Smoking damages sperm DNA
Women who smoke are roughly twice as likely to experience a delay in conception
Smoking can speed up the rate at which fertility declines
Smoking can be harmful to the female ovaries
The severity of damage due to smoking is proportional to the amount and length of time that a woman smokes
The chemicals found in cigarettes, primarily nicotine, can interfere with the female’s natural ability to produce estrogen
The nicotine found in cigarettes can also cause eggs to be more prone to genetic abnormalities
Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy
Early rupture of membranes and premature rupture of the amniotic sac that can induce labor before the baby is fully developed
Infants exposed to smoke, both during pregnancy and after birth, are found to be more at risk of SIDS due to the increased levels of nicotine often found in SIDS cases
Smoking nearly doubles the risk of low birthweight babies
Smoking during pregnancy is implicated in placenta previa, ectopic pregnancies, placental abruption and congenital heart defects
Women who smoke anytime during the first trimester put their fetus at a higher risk for birth defects
Smoking can also impair the general development of the placenta and therefore the umbilical cord (which transfers oxygen and nutrients from the mother’s blood to the placenta)
Smoking Effects After Pregnancy
Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are more likely to die of SIDS
Infants born to smoking mothers are at an increased risk for bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections, asthma, and impaired respiratory function and slowed lung growth
Babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy may undergo withdrawal-like symptoms
Tags: effects of second hand smoke, effects of smoking during pregnancy, neurobehavioral abnormalities, new born baby, pregnancy facts, proof alcohol, psychoactive ingredient, reproductive organs, second hand smoke, smoking during pregnancy