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Pregnancy and Smoking: Grasp the Facts
A new life is about to enter the world when a woman gets the pride to be pregnant. But it's all in mother's control as to what health and safety she can gift her baby if she smokes. Pregnancy gives you an exceptional and powerful motivation to quit smoking, because the health and life of your baby who is dependent on you, is in your hand.
Smoking hampers conceiving no matter which partner smokes
Studies have declared that both female and male have low fertility levels if they smoke. Moreover, those who are born to smoker mothers have less chance of becoming a parent themselves. Additionally, smoking also lowers the likelihood of IVF success. The logic behind woman smoker infertility comes after it was discovered that nicotine affects the production of hormones essential for pregnancy. It also hampers the transport of the egg through the Fallopian tubes to the womb. Incase of Males, smoking reduces the sperm count. Research and studies declare that males who smoke tend to have a sperm count 15 per cent lower than the males who don't smoke. Besides, smoking can lower the amount of semen, thereby impairing the motility of sperm and can also affect their shape.
Smoking during Pregnancy
A baby is dependant on its mother's for everything from nutrients to oxygen that he receives through placenta and umbilical cord. Smoking damages the placental lining, hampers its function and thus, exposes the fetus to toxins present in tobacco smoke. Carbon monoxide from smoke replaces some of the oxygen in the blood. This makes her child's blood short of oxygen that can cause the fetal heart rate to rise as baby strives hard to get sufficient oxygen.
How Smoking Harms the Fetus
- Early Miscarriage
- Premature birth or stillborn baby because of placental abruption
- Low birth weight
- Smaller & poorly functional organs
- Poorer lung function
- More susceptible to cot death
- Poorly developed immune system
- Susceptible to painful diseases, like inflammation of the middle ear and asthmatic bronchitis
- Prone to become smokers themselves in later years
It is never late to stop smoking. Your single quick & strong decision will help you as well as your baby. Your body is living and it has the power to heal itself so the damage caused by smoking can be reversed if you stop smoking now. |
