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Smoking during pregnancy exposes the unborn child to serious birth defects, according to large-scale reviews.
Scientists from the Allan Hacksaw team (University College London) analyzed all the works published in the last 50 years on the effects of smoking during pregnancy on the child’s development.
As it turns out, smoking harms not only the unborn baby, but also the pregnant woman. The consequences can appear both during pregnancy and during childbirth. It is also worth mentioning the long-term effects of smoking, which may become apparent after many years of being addicted.
Smoking in pregnancy and birth defects according to research
It turned out that the child of a smoking mother is particularly vulnerable to, among others, heart defects, missing or deformed limbs, defects in the digestive system and facial deformities (for example, cleft lip or palate). All analyzed studies included 11,7 million people. 173 babies were born with birth defects, which is related to active smoking in a pregnant woman.
Smoking during pregnancy also contributes to the onset of premature labor. Such childbirth and the associated low birth weight are associated with the risk of a wide variety of life-long health disorders for the baby, such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation and learning difficulties. Smoking also makes it harder to get pregnant and increases the risk of a stillbirth.
In 2009, about 20 percent. US women surveyed said they smoke. About 250 million women smoke each day around the world, and the number continues to grow, according to figures released at the global tobacco conference in Mumbai that same year.
Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of complications also in pregnant women
The unborn child of a smoking mother is exposed to such harmful substances as nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar. On the other hand, mothers who smoke are more likely to experience serious complications – ectopic pregnancy, vaginal bleeding, detachment of the placenta or placenta previa – not to mention long-term cancer, stroke, heart disease, gum disease or eye disease.
Read more:
- Effects of perinatal injuries as a cause of child development disorders
- Heart defects in children