Smoking Affects Your Pregnancy and Your Children

Smoke?  You may have a harder time getting pregnant and be more likely to miscarry than non-smoking women.¹

Smoking while pregnant:

• Affects the placenta—the source of your baby’s food and oxygen during pregnancy
• Lowers the amount of oxygen available to you and your growing baby
• Increases:
  • Your baby's heart rate
  • The risk that your baby will be born prematurely
  • The risk that your baby will be born with low birth weight
  • Your baby's risk of developing respiratory problems
  • The chances of stillbirth
  • The risk for certain birth defects like a cleft lip or cleft palate
  • The risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)²

Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to have low-birth weight babies.³

Babies exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to:

• Get ear infections⁴
• Develop bronchitis and pneumonia⁵
• Die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)⁶

Children exposed to secondhand smoke can also have serious health problems, including:

• Frequent lower respiratory illness
• Wheezing and coughing
• More frequent and severe asthma attacks
• Ear infections⁷

Sources

1. http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/TobaccoUsePregnancy
2. http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/TobaccoUsePregnancy
3. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects
4. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/smokeexposure
5. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/secondhandsmoke/factsheet2.html
6. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/smokeexposure
7. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/smokeexposure