The effect of smoking during pregnancy and the harms resulting from it:
The message from the American Academy of Pediatrics is clear, don't smoke if you're pregnant and protect yourself and your children from secondhand tobacco smoke.
Many studies have shown that if a woman smokes or is exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy, her child may be born early (prematurely) or may be smaller than normal.
Other effects of smoking during pregnancy can include:
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
- Decreased breathing ability of the fetus.
- Learning problems.
- respiratory disorders.
- heart disease in adulthood.
Effect of passive smoking on children after birth:
After birth, children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke have more respiratory infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, lung deficiency, and asthma than children who are not.
Exposure to smoke is more harmful to young children because they spend more time in close contact with their parents and other smokers and their lungs have not matured.
- If you smoke, quit . Ask your child's pediatrician or primary care doctor for free help, or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
- If you can't quit, don't expose your child to smoke , don't smoke at home or in your car.
- If you don't smoke and live with a smoker, encourage your partner or relative/friend to quit.
protect children from secondhand smoke:
The AAP recommends several measures to protect children from secondhand smoke and to ensure that smokers who want to quit can do so.
The AAP supports legislation that prohibits smoking in public places, including outdoor public places frequented by children.
Other AAP-recommended actions include banning tobacco ads, including rating them for adult movies, and television shows or video games that depict tobacco use, as well as banning smoking in condominiums and in apartments and multiple dwellings.
