It is common knowledge that Smoking Is Bad when you’re pregnant, but what is not known–or what was not known until recently–is exactly what kinds of effects smoking has on the fetus while still in the womb. This new scan is about to change all of that.
According to the video host, this amazing new scan reveals that fetuses of smoking mothers tend to move a lot more frequently inside the womb than fetuses of non-smoking mothers. Their lips are also constantly moving, which is not natural for an unborn baby.
While a lot of fetal movement is not something that doctors and midwives are especially concerned about, increased fetal movement in smoking mothers can actually be a sign of fetal distress. This scan will help smoking mothers to see how their choice to continue smoking adversely affects their babies.
The list of risks of smoking while pregnant is extensive. If you are lucky enough to get pregnant while smoking (I say lucky because smoking reduces a woman’s chances of getting pregnant), you are much more likely to experience complications throughout the pregnancy than non-smoking mothers. Additionally, smoking while pregnant can cause tissue damage in the unborn baby, particularly in the lung and brain regions. Some studies have linked cleft lip to maternal smoking.
Sadly, there is a strong link between continued tobacco use throughout pregnancy and miscarriage. By smoking, while pregnant, you are not only risking your child’s health, but you are also risking their very life. In addition to other harmful chemicals, the carbon monoxide in cigarettes reduces the amount of oxygen a fetus receives. By smoking, while pregnant, a mother is essentially suffocating her baby.
Other adverse effects of maternal smoking include an increase in the baby’s heart rate, an increased risk that the baby will be born prematurely and/or with a low birth weight, an increased risk of birth defects, an increased risk of the baby developing respiratory problems and an increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
It is important to keep in mind that there is no “safe level” of smoking while pregnant. Even secondhand smoke has been known to adversely affect the fetus. The residual smoke that burns off the end of a cigarette or cigar actually contains more harmful substances than the smoke inhaled by the smoker. When the mother breathes that in, it goes straight to the fetus. Mothers who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke put their babies at risk for a stillbirth, low birthweight, birth defects, asthma, allergies, more frequent lung and ear infections and SIDS. Additionally, these mothers experience more pregnancy complications than those not routinely exposed to secondhand smoke.
If you or a friend is pregnant but unable to quit smoking, our hope is that by reading about all of the adverse side effects of smoking while pregnant, you will be compelled to quit.
This new scan is great in that it provides expectant mothers with hard proof of what smoking does to the fetus. Never before have we been able to track a fetus’s development in such a way, and never before have we been able to distinguish between a fetus whose mother smokes and a fetus whose mother doesn’t. It truly is an eye-opener.
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