1 Project ASSIST: Smokefree Indiana,
"Statistics Regarding Indiana and Tobacco Use" Fact Sheet, 1997 2Ibid.
3IU School of Nursing, "Smoking During Pregnancy".Fact Sheet, 1990. 4Indiana
State Department of Health, "Smoking Facts "Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy
on the Mother and the Fetus" Fact Sheet, 1997. 5Ibid. 6Ibid.
7Katherine Napier, Cigarettes: What the Warning Label Doesn't Tell You,
American Council on Science and Health, New York, N.Y., p. 86. 8Ibid, p.87. 9IU
School of Nursing, "Smoking During Pregnancy" Fact Sheet, 1990. 10Katherine
Napier, Cigarettes: What the Warning Label Doesn't Tell You. American Council on Science
and Health, New York, N.Y., p. 85. 11Indiana State Department of Health,
"Smoking Facts: Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy on the Mother and the Fetus"
Fact Sheet, 1997. 12David L. Olds et al., "Intellectual Impairment
in Children of Women Who Smoke Cigarettes During Pregnancy," Pediatrics, Vol. 93, No.
2, February 1994, P. 221. 13Policy, Assessment & Assurance to Stop
Smoking (PAASS) Update, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, September 1996,
p.4. 14American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Inc.,
Secondhand Smoke Fact Sheet, 1996. 15Project ASSIST: Smokefree Indiana,
"Secondhand Smoke" Fact Sheet, 1997 New Years Day Smoking Cessation Class, TV
Presentation, WFYI, Dr. Richard Feldman, Indiana State Health Commissioner, December 23,
1997.
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Just The Facts
Health Effects On the Unborn Baby
 |
24% of pregnant women in
Indiana smoke cigarettes.1 If they did not smoke, Indiana would reduce its
infant mortality rate (12th highest in the country) by 9%. |
|
|
Tobacco smoke reduces the delivery of oxygen to the
fetus through the presence of carbon monoxide, cyanide, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
Nicotine and other substances in tobacco smoke cause reduction in placental blood flow,
creating further reductions in oxygen delivery as well as reductions in nutrients to the
unborn baby. Nutrients include iron, amino acids, vitamins B 12 and C, folic acid and
zinc.2 |
|
|
These factors account for an
estimated 20-30% of all low birthweight babies.3 Low birthweight is associated
with 40% of babies dying in the neonatal period.4 |
|
|
Secondhand smoke exposure
during pregnancy produces twice the risk of low birthweight babies.5 Smoking is
the single largest modifiable risk factor in intrauterine growth retardation.6
|
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Maternal smoking during
pregnancy is also associated with genetic defects as well as an increased incidence of
congenital anomalies such as cleft palate.7
|
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Miscarriages and stillbirths
are twice as prevalent in smoking mothers.8 |
|
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There is also a higher
incidence of life threatening pregnancy complications including hypertension, toxemia,
abruptio placenta, and placenta previa.9 |
|
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Smoking accounts for 14% of
premature births.10 |
|
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Mothers who smoke 1/2 pack of
cigarettes a day during pregnancy have an increased risk of neuro-developmental impairment
among their children with decreases in childhood intellectual function as measured in the
first four years of life. 11 |
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Mothers who smoke one pack a
day during pregnancy have an 85% increased risk of having a child with mental retardation.12 |
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Children of smoking mothers
are twice as likely to have behavioral problems including Attention Deficit Disorder
(ADD).13 |
|
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Smoking during pregnancy
produces greater incidence of children with narrowed airways after birth predisposing them
to asthma and respiratory disorders.14 |
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Maternal smoking during
pregnancy produces two times higher risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).15 |
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