Smoking is the single most powerful determinant of poor fetal growth in the developed world.1
Women who smoke have significantly more stillbirths and babies that die during the first month of infancy.2
It is estimated that 17-26% of low birth-weight babies could be prevented by eliminating smoking during pregnancy.3
Women who smoke during pregnancy may have increased difficulty in delivering their babies, go into premature labor, and bleed excessively during pregnancy.2
Research from the University of Minnesota Cancer Center shows that women who smoke while pregnant pass the carcinogen NNK to their unborn babies.4
A study conducted at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York revealed that women who smoke while pregnant are four times more likely to have children who develop behavior problems as toddlers; behaviors that are likely to continue into adolescence than women who don't smoke.5
1 Tobacco Facts, State of Washington Department of Health, August 1, 1997.
2 It's All About Us, African American Women Fighting Against Tobacco, American Lung Association of San Francisco.
3 1990 Surgeon General's Report.
4 Lackmann GM, Salzberger U, Tollner U, et al. Metabolites of a tobacco-specific carcinogen in urine from newborns. JNCI. 1999;91(5).
5 Brook JS, Brook DW, Whiteman M. The influence of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the toddler's negativity. Arch Ped & Adolesc Med. 2000. |
