FREE ESSAY ON WOMEN SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY - EFFECTS ON THE CHILDREN THEY CARRY

WOMEN SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY - EFFECTS ON THE CHILDREN THEY CARRY

Women Smoking During Pregnancy - - Effects on the Children They Carry:
There are many effects that cigarette smoking 
by pregnant women have on their fetuses. The 
relationship between maternal smoking and fetal 
development shows that smoking can induce 
spontaneous abortion, affect birth weight, and 
bring about fetal malformations. The long-term 
effects of smoking while pregnant on the offspring 
are its influence on growth, the chance of SIDS, 
respiratory disorders, and behavior.
Smoking while pregnant can affect a baby's life 
immediately, through distorted birth weight and 
fetal malformations, or end it, through spontaneous 
abortion. 
Spontaneous abortion has been studied from many 
angles in order to determine its link to maternal 
smoking. Since 1931, many surveys, documents, and 
studies have been recorded in this area. The 
results of these reports are all in agreement: 
smoking while pregnant increases the chance of 
miscarriage.
There isn't one reason for this, that can be 
applied to every situation, however. Several 
theories have risen from the numerous experiments. 
One idea is that placental development may be 
stunted from the cigarette smoke, which would 
render the placenta unable to support a fetus. 
Another conclusion is that smoking may cause 
abnormal development of the embryo, but this can 
rarely be linked directly with smoking. Another 
possibility is that smoking affects hormonal 
systems that sustain pregnancy, for example, 
progesterone, so that the uterus is unable to 
support implantation. Tests are being done now to 
find other reasons smoking may induce abortion.
One major factor that is probably paid the most 
attention to regarding this topic is birth weight. 
This is because birth weight is a fairly accurate 
barometer of prenatal development. Another reason 
is because birth weight is most commonly associated 
with maternal smoking. The tests involving birth 
weight have been more successful than those 
involving spontaneous abortion. Recent studies take 
into account the sex of the offspring and racial 
and genetic background. With these factors 
accounted for, the reductions in birth weight of 
infants born to smoking mothers range from forty to 
four hundred and thirty grams less than the birth 
weights of children born to nonsmoking mothers, 
with the average being two hundred grams, or seven 
ounces, less. 
Also, smoking infants tend to be shorter than 
nonsmoking infants, approximately 1.4 centimeters 
shorter, though the major factor is the weight. In 
some studies, the circumference of the infant's 
head was significantly reduced, due to maternal 
smoking.
The low birth weight is also affected by the 
amount of cigarettes smoked a day. Eight percent of 
women who smoke one cigarette a day have babies 
with a low birth weight.
Infants born to mothers who smoked while they 
were pregnant tend to remain below normal in height 
and weight. 
The lower the birth rate of an infant is, the 
greater the chance of perinatal mortality, also 
logically brought about by maternal smoking.
Spontaneous abortions in early pregnancies are 
usually associated with malformations and 
chromosomal aberrations in the developing fetus. A 
study was made by Naeye that death rates due to 
malformations increased when the mother smoked more 
than ten cigarettes a day. His study included 100 
pregnant women who smoked ten cigarettes a day and 
100 pregnant women who didn't smoke at all. The 
conclusion was the stillbirth rate of 1.72% for 
smoking babies as compared to 0.1% for nonsmoking 
babies. It was established that malformations due 
to maternal smoking triggered stillbirth. 
The fetus can also acquire a build-up of patent 
ductus arteriosus, which can cause cardiovascular 
abnormalities in the future. Also, babies born to 
smoking mothers are twice as likely to have 
congenital heart disease when they're older.
The long-term effects smoking while pregnant 
can have on an infant can affect them for their 
whole life; in growth, respiratory disorders, and 
behavior. It can even end the baby's life early, 
through SIDS. 
All highly reputed studies on the growth of a 
smoking infant have come to the same conclusion: 
babies born to smoking mothers will most likely 
have less height and weight than that of a 
nonsmoking infant. On the average, a one-year-old 
born to a smoking mother will be .3 kg lighter than 
its smoke-free peer. At the age of four, 
nonsmoking children will generally be about .9 cm 
taller than a smoking four-year-old. This idea 
consists through the age of seven in most reports, 
but few of the studies found any significant height 
or weight difference between smoking and 
nonsmoking children by the age of ten.
SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, occurs 
in approximately 2.5 out of 1000 live births. The 
name refers to the sudden, often unexplained death 
of an infant, usually between one and four months 
old. It is presently the leading cause of death in 
infants under one year old in the United States.
Five major studies, conducted recently, show 
that maternal smoking greatly increases the 
probability of SIDS. In one study, 125 children 
stricken by crib death were compared with 325 
infants, matched for place of birth, gestational 
age, date of birth, sex, race, and socioeconomic 
status. The results showed that women who had 
smoked during their pregnancy were more likely to 
die from SIDS than nonsmokers, and the likelihood 
increased greatly when the mother smoked more than 
six cigarettes per day.
Other investigators have suggested that the 
syndrome may result from factors producing a 
harmful environment for the developing fetus, which 
would include maternal smoking.
Three large-scale studies have been conducted 
to demonstrate an association between maternal 
smoking and respiratory disorders. Especially 
important is the increased occurrence of pneumonia 
among children of smokers.
One result from these tests is the possibility 
that prenatal smoking and the exposure to this 
smoke may have lowered the resistance of these 
children to subsequent infections. Smoking babies 
have a lower amount of lympocytotoxins at the time 
of birth than nonsmoking babies. This lessened 
amount of lympocytotoxins could make the children 
less resistant to bacterial and viral infections.
The final long-term effect of maternal smoking 
on the offspring involves behavior. The first major 
study showed that infants who had been exposed to 
nicotine while in the womb were less visually alert 
than nicotine-free babies. They also appeared more 
dazed, and yawned and sneezed more. In another 
study, it was noted that smoking babies had a 
weaker suck, took longer to begin sucking, and 
took longer to complete sucking. 
One study consisted of follow-up sessions with 
462 four-year-olds with both smoking an nonsmoking 
mothers. All the children were from Caucasian, 
middle-class suburban families. The study showed 
that smokers' offspring were more likely to 
approach strangers, exhibit negative behavior 
when upset, and were more stubborn and persistent.
Other studies showed that behavioral patterns 
in smoking children were apparent for many years 
and could easily affect the children for their 
entire lives.
These are the major effects of maternal 
cigarette smoking on the fetus. I think it can be 
easily stated that smoking while pregnant can be 
detrimental to the child's future, and can affect 
their whole being for the worse.