The effects of smoking while pregnant, after pregnancy and while breastfeeding
Pregnancy is a wonderful and unique phenomenon for every woman in the world
. The hopes and dreams imbued in the pregnancy come to a reality once a newborn arrives in the family. The entire period of pregnancy is sensitive and women must go through a set of do's and don'ts to have a trouble-free childbirth at the end of the period. For negligence to these very simple but important rules may end up in a nightmare and grief.It has been scientifically proved that smoking is injurious to health. It has been found to cause a wide variety of diseases and discomforts which may even lead to cancer and death. Smoking during pregnancy is absolutely prohibited by doctors no matter how many cigarettes you take in a day. For women undergoing pregnancy, smoking has been identified as one of the prime causes of unhealthy birth, miscarriages and stillbirths.
Smoking involves inhaling a number of chemicals (roughly around four thousand different elements) into your body. The cigarette smoke dissolves in the bloodstream and the resultant toxic brew contaminates the blood which may cause diseases like cancers (lung, throat, mouth, pancreas, kidney, stomach etc), lung infections, heart diseases, chronic bronchitis, stroke and many other ailments.
When a pregnant mother smokes, the two most dangerous elements i.e. nicotine and carbon monoxide enter the bloodstream and reduce the production and supply of oxygen. Such a choking effect can seriously injure the umbilical cord through which the growing baby is fed with nutrients and oxygen. The combined effect of nicotine and carbon monoxide narrows down the cord and eventually the baby inside the womb is made to breathe through a narrower straw'.
Besides the increased possibility of transmission of number of diseases originating from the mother's body, smoking and its resultant lack of oxygen supply seriously hampers the normal growth of the baby during the entire period of pregnancy. This may result in an under-weight birth or worst, a stillbirth. For the same reason, a smoker mother may have premature delivery or miscarriage too. Surveys on stillbirth cases reveal that women who drink alcohol or smoke are more likely to have stillborns. Smoking can cause a number of physical and mental defects in a baby if he/she at all makes his/her way. Their organs may not develop properly or they may develop problems related to learning and behavior.
Smoking after pregnancy is harmful for the woman and her baby. Besides the effect of passive smoking' to the baby, women who smoke are found to have difficulties in breastfeeding. Milk produced in women contains the same elements of cigarette smoke which reduces the very production of milk. Moreover, the nicotine and carbon monoxide dissolved in the milk passes into the newborn and exposes him/her to the same dangers discussed earlier.
Nicotine suppresses hunger and appetite. This has a serious effect both during and after pregnancy. A pregnant woman needs to take balanced food in order to assist her baby to grow naturally inside the womb. Inability to maintain an ideal diet has also been found to be a root cause of miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births. After pregnancy, during breastfeeding, failure to have proper food may result in nutrient and mineral deficiencies in the baby due to the degraded quality of the breast milk.
The effects of smoking while pregnant, after pregnancy and while breastfeeding
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