Reasons to Quit Smoking, Continued
When pregnant women smoke, they are smoking for two. The nicotine and other harmful chemicals enter her bloodstream and pass directly into the baby’s body. This prevents the baby from getting the essential nutrients and oxygen needed for growth. Pregnant women who smoke risk the health and lives of their unborn babies. There is a greater chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, infant death and sudden infant death syndrome in pregnant women who smoke.There are unique risks for women who smoke. They are in a high risk group for heart attacks, strokes and blood clots in their legs if they are over 35 years of age. Using birth control pills increases their risks of developing these illnesses. It also affects their reproductive health and is associated with reduced fertility.
Smoking during pregnancy can cause low birth weight, quitting smoking during pregnancy reduces the risk. Research suggests that infants of mothers who smoke during and after pregnancy are two to three times more likely to die from SIDS than babies born to nonsmoking mothers. Women who stop smoking before pregnancy or during the first three to four months of pregnancy reduce their risk of having a low birth weight baby to that of women who never smoked. As many as 10% of all infant deaths could be prevented if pregnant women did not smoke.
Cigarette smoke is a mixture of organic and inorganic compounds produced by the burning of tobacco and additives. Cigarette smoke contains cyanide, formaldehyde, methanol, acetylene (the fuel used in welding torches) and ammonia. Cigarette smoke
also contains the poisonous gases nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide. Its main active ingredient is nicotine, which is a highly addictive drug.
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