While the medical community generally highlights lung cancer and breathing issues as the main health risks of longterm smoking, there is far more for a woman who is pregnant to consider. If you are interested in becoming pregnant, are pregnant, or recently delivered a child, consider these alarming facts:

• Smoking while pregnant decreases a couple’s fertility. This is true if either partner smokes.
• Smoking during your pregnancy can (and often does) lead to birth deformities, some requiring repeated surgeries and resulting in difficulties throughout the child’s life. Consistent secondhand smoke causes the same problems, so fathers-to-be who smoke can be equally dangerous.
• Smoking while your pregnant often results in premature or low-birth weight babies. Small or premature babies often have under-developed lungs, eyes, and other body functions. They often require expensive extended hospital care and may not be able to go home with the mother.
• Babies in utero do not receive enough oxygen if their mother smokes, which can lead to anything from severe lifelong disabilities to minor learning difficulties. Either way, the baby is starting life behind.
• Smoking while pregnant increases your risk of bleeding excessively during labor and delivery.
• Pregnant women have decreased energy and have some difficulty breathing toward the end of pregnancy. Smoking accentuates these difficulties.

Even if your baby is born healthy, the little one has a greater risk of the following difficulties if you smoke during the pregnancy or continue to smoke after the baby is born.

• 2-3 times increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Symdrome (SIDS)
• Asthma
• Ear infections
• Lung problems
• Allergies
• Increased sickness, such as bronchitis and pneumonia
• Increased chance of becoming a smoker as an adult

You may think it’s unfair that the woman has to quit while the man can do as he pleases. The truth is that the risks are increased not only when the woman smokes, but the man as well. Secondhand smoke as well as the smoke residue on the clothes and in the homes of smokers are all hazards with negative effects on the health and fertility of the parents as well as the health and future well-being of the baby.

The good news is that the earlier you quit, the less likely your baby will be to suffer ill effects. Also, the less you smoke, the better.

Make your baby’s future a priority and quit today. Ask your doctor for ways to quit, seek a support group, and try out our tips on ways to quit smoking. At the very least, cut back on your smoking to expose your baby to less smoke and nicotine. It may be difficult to give up this established habit, but remember that your goal is to give your baby the best start at life. Considering some complications of a smoking mother mean death to the baby (and sometimes the mother as well), you may well be weighing the importance of a pack of cigarettes against your baby’s life. Instead of smoking while pregnant, put your baby first and give up cigarettes before you get pregnant.