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Smoking and Your Baby
By the end of this session you will:
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• Learn the dangers of smoking during pregnancy
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• Learn the dangers of secondhand smoke
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• Learn the dangers of smoking and breastfeeding
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• Learn some things you can do instead of smoking and where to go for help quitting.
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Please do not use ENTER to move through the fields, use the TAB key.
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First and Last Name
Activity 1:
List some consequences of smoking during pregnancy.
This is what happens if you smoke while you are pregnant…
One of the chemicals in tobacco, Nicotine causes all of your arteries and veins including the umbilical cord to constrict or tighten. Because this constriction makes the area smaller, it reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients that reach the unborn baby. This can lead to lack of oxygen getting to the baby.
Carbon monoxide also found in tobacco smoke also causes reduced amounts of oxygen for the unborn baby. Additionally, carbon monoxide damages the lining of the arteries of the umbilical cord.
Other chemicals in tobacco smoke affect fetal growth by interfering with metabolic and transport functions of the placenta.
“A woman who smokes 2 packs per day decreases her unborn baby’s placental blood flow by 41% during her smoking hours” (Christen, 1998)
Smoking Increases a Pregnant Woman’s Risks Of:
• Pre-term delivery
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Miscarriage
• Stillbirth
• Placenta abnormalities
• Abruptio placenta
• Placenta previa
Premature Delivery Prematurity can cause many problems including being too small to be healthy and require hospitalization. It may also cause neurological and developmental problems, and even death. Maternal smoking has been implicated in as many as 14% of preterm deliveries in the United States.
Ectopic (Tubal) Pregnancy In the developing world about 1 in every 200 pregnancies is a tubal pregnancy, in women who smoke it occurs 1 in every 100 pregnancies.
Tubal pregnancies are more common in smokers.
Miscarriage Rates are 20% higher in women who smoke. There is a strong dose response in the number of cigarettes smoked and the incidence of miscarriage.
Smokers also have trouble with getting pregnant. The chemicals affect both a man’s and a woman’s fertility.
Women with increased risk of stillbirth:
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Are of advanced maternal age
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Never had a baby previously
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Smoke during pregnancy
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Smoking related fetal death is most commonly caused by a lack of oxygen going to the fetus and also by hemorrhage
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Perinatal death risks:
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Death rates to non-smokers-23.3%
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Death rates to <1 pack/day-28%
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Death rates to >1 pack/day-33.4%
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Problems with the Placenta Problems with the placenta occur in about 1% of pregnancies and smoking doubles a woman’s risk of these. Result in emergency C-sections or can cause death due to hemorrhage.
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Abruptio placenta (placenta separates from the uterine wall before delivery)
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Placenta previa (placenta is attached too low in the uterus and covers part or all of the cervix)
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Smoking less than a pack a day increases the risk of developing this condition by 25% and using more than a pack daily elevates the likelihood to 92%
Smoking During Pregnancy Increases a Baby’s Risks Of:
• Prematurity
• Low Birth Weight (LBW)
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
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SIDS is the most common cause of mortality in babies older than 1 month. Annually, 6,500 - 8,000 infants die and 1,200 - 2,200 cases are attributable to parental smoking.
Risk factors to SIDS include:
• Prone (tummy) sleeping position
• Loose bedding
• Winter months
• Maternal and household smoke
Pregnant women who smoke are 2-6 times more likely to have a child who develops SIDS than women who do not smoke. About 60% of mothers who have lost babies to SIDS were smoking during their pregnancy.
Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are twice as likely to have babies who die from SIDS.
Baby with Cleft Palate or Cleft Lip
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An oral cleft occurs between 5-8 weeks of pregnancy and is 1½-2 times more likely to occur in babies of women who smoke. Especially in infants predisposed to oral clefts.
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Low Birth Weight Baby
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Babies born to women who smoke during pregnancy are, on average, 200-250 grams and 1 centimeter shorter.
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Smoking nearly doubles a woman’s risk of having a low-birth weight baby. In 1998, 12 % of babies born to smokers in the US were of low-birth weight, compared to 7.2% of babies of nonsmokers.
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Consequences of Low Birth Weight include serious problems during the newborn period, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, learning problems and even death.
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Teen mothers and women over 40 are at highest risk of delivering a low birth weight baby. |
Small for Gestational Age Baby (SGA)
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SGA is described as an abnormally short crown-heel length, characterized by the baby who is smaller in all measurements, including a short body length, small head, shoulder and head circumference. This is due to the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke.
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Abnormal Lung Development- Weaker Lungs in Baby
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Infants have lower lung volumes that may be due to smaller airways.
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Long Term Growth Retardation with Heavy Smoking
• At age 5 children of smokers were significantly shorter than those of non-smokers
High Rates of Relapse after Delivery
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Of those who quit on their own, 21-35% relapse before delivery.
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70-90% relapse within one year postpartum.
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Activity 2:
Smoking and Breastfeeding
Breastmilk has important nutrients and antibodies that protects your infant from the illnesses that smoking and secondhand smoke cause such as:
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Colic
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Ear Infections
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Asthma
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Respiratory Infections
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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
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When you smoke traces of the chemicals, including nicotine are passed through your breastmilk. Remember, breastfeeding is the BEST source of nutrition for your infant. Ask your local WIC nutritionist for more information.
Second Hand Smoke
• Contains 4000 chemicals
• Contains over 50 carcinogens and 6 compounds that cause developmental and reproductive abnormalities.
• Tobacco smoke has been declared a Group A carcinogen by the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• Group A carcinogens are substances that have been proven to cause cancer in human beings.
Second Hand Smoke exposure during pregnancy is a cause of:
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low birth weight
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SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
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Second Hand Smoke and children:
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Children exposed to ETS have much higher rates of:
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ear infections
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bronchitis
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pneumonia
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frequency and severity of asthma attacks
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Learning and behavior problems in children are linked to secondhand smoke exposure
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Second Hand Smoke also contributes to eye and nose irritations
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Protect Yourself and Your Family From Second Hand Smoke
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Never allow smoke in enclosed spaces including your house and your car.
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If you are not a smoker, ask that smokers don’t smoke around you or your family.
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Go to non-smoking places and restaurants.
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What you can do instead of smoking?
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Before: You Quit
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Tell your family, friends, and co-workers that you are quitting
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Tell people your quit date
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Begin to throw away all your cigarettes, lighters and ashtrays
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Start to delay your first tobacco use for five to ten minutes
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Eat more fruit and vegetables
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Exercise, if your doctor allows it
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Use prayer and meditation
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Reduce the amount of contact you have with smokers and the
amount of time you spend in places where people smoke
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Practice deep breathing
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Try to keep yourself busy, even during your down time
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Make friends with an ex-smoker
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Review your quitting information from WIC
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If you are not pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your doctor about medications that may help you quit using tobacco
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Think about situations that make you want to smoke and ways to handle them
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Go to the dentist and have your teeth cleaned
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Make a money jar to collect the money you will save
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Practice what to say when someone offers you tobacco, things like:“No thank you. I have quit smoking.”
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After Quitting: Things you can do
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Keep your mind and hands busy – write a letter, work on a hobby
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Use prayer and meditation
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Find a support group
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Visit non-smoking places like the movies
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Avoid alcohol
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Exercise (check with your doctor first)
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Take a walk during your break or lunch
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Throw away your lighters and ashtrays
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Cut down on drinks with caffeine like coffee, tea, and cola
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Change driving routes
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Eat crunchy foods like fruit, vegetables, and popcorn
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Set aside time everyday just for yourself
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Brush your teeth often
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Play a game with your kids
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Take a nap
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Take a shower
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Post the reasons you quit on the refridgerator
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Call a supportive friend
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Read a book or magazine
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Give yourself a star on the calendar for each day you are smoke-free
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Think of yourself as a non-smoker
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Save money to spend on yourself
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Avoid situations where you used to smoke
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Use the 4Ds to Reduce Stress:
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Delay reaching for a cigarette
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Deep breathe
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Drink lots of water
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Do something else
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Times to Be Careful or Triggers to Smoking
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After meals
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Drinking coffee
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Talking on the telephone
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At the end of the day
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While waiting
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Listening to music
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Driving
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Watching television
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Stressful situations
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Work break and lunch |
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Social situations |
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Seeing or smelling someone else smoking |
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When drinking alcohol |
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In the morning |
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Relaxing, boredom |
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Parties |
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Reading |
If you would like more information on smoking, and how to quit, try one of these sites:
• Smoke Free Families - A site designed for pregnant and postpartum women.
• La Leche League- A site by the La Leche League about smoking and breastfeeding.
• American Lung Association of Alaska - Americam Lung Association of Alaska.
• 1-888-842-7848 - Alaska's 24/7 quit smoking help line.
Activity 3:
Which WIC Office do you go to?
Where are you taking today's lesson?
| Activity 2: |
1. Nicotine
2. 2 of the following: Pre-term delivery, Ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, placenta abnormalities such as abruptio placenta, placenta previa
3. 2 of the following: Prematurity, Baby with cleft palate or cleft lip, Abnormal lung development- weaker lungs in baby, Long term growth retardation with heavy smoking, or baby dying of low birth weight, or SIDS
4. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome |
| Activity 3: |
1. False. Nicotine enters the breastmilk.
2. True. Secondhand smoke contains over 4000 chemicals.
3. True
4. True, along with bronchitis and pneamonia.
5. drink lots of water, exercise
6. Alaska smokers help line, Local resources: WIC |
Back to WIC Lessons
Revised: 06-13-2008
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