It is estimated that up to 30 percent pregnant women smoke cigarettes despite overwhelming evidence that smoking during pregnancy is very unhealthy for the fetus. Most women know this, therefore, from the first days of pregnancy, they stop smoking completely painlessly and even feel a great aversion to nicotine smoke. They understand that the health of the child is the most important thing.
Cigarettes are poison. By smoking, you deprive yourself and the child you carry inside you of health. Smoking during pregnancy causes the child to be hypoxic, its weight is lower than that of children whose mothers do not smoke, which makes them malnourished and weak. They are more prone to diseases than their peers, they may have problems with the circulatory system and breathing. The development of the baby after birth is also not normal. A child who has been a passive smoker from the beginning may have problems with concentration and memory, which means that it will be hard for him to follow the normal teaching regime at school. Also, his relations with the environment will not be appropriate. A child taking nicotine in the womb is exposed to as many as 4 different toxic substances, including 40 carcinogens. Each inhalation of nicotine smoke increases the risk of complications during pregnancy, such as miscarriage, premature placental abruption, premature birth, ectopic pregnancy, rupture of membranes and even stillbirth.
For mums who are reluctant to these arguments, quitting smoking should be facilitated by the results of a study in which 20 pregnant women took part. Some of them were smokers and some were not smokers at all. Women at 24, 28, 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy underwent 4D ultrasound. The results of these recordings were then analyzed by specialists for two types of fetal movement czyli opening your mouth and touching your face.You should know that the movements in question are completely natural. Fetuses make a lot of uncoordinated movements, including opening their mouths and touching their faces. However, when the fetus is developing properly, the amount of these movements should decrease, because the older the baby is, the better it coordinates and controls its movements.
The analysis of the recordings showed that the children of smoking mothers during pregnancy make much more hand movements, touching their face and move their lips more often than children of non-smoking mothers. Mothers were shown ultrasound recordings and thanks to them they could see how big the difference is in the mobility of their children.
Why is there such a big difference in the amount and manner of movements?
Specialists claim that nicotine impairs the development of the central nervous system, which is why children of smokers do not develop at the same pace as children of non-smokers. This means that children exposed to nicotine develop much worse and slower. This, again, strong evidence should greatly affect the imagination of women who are unable to break the addiction. The results of the study should motivate women to fight cigarettes more, and also encourage them to seek appropriate help. Currently, the study of fetal movements is used in therapy, and doctors have high hopes for it.