Smoking and being pregnant don't mix, for several reasons. If you smoke while you are pregnant, then your baby is more likely to:
- be born too soon or too small to be healthy
- die suddenly from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- experience asthma or breathing difficulty
- exhibit behavior problems
- perform poorly in school
- grow up to be a smoker, and pass on this terrible heritage
- For more online help:
- http://www.smokefree.gov/
- www.quitnownc.org/iwant.htm
- http://www.americanlegacy.org/
SECOND HAND SMOKE is NO BETTER:
- opening a window may help clear the air, but not improvement enough. Scientists found babies' hair to still contain tobacco chemicals and urine also, even when the window was open and a fan was used.
- whether the baby breathes a lot or a little makes no difference. Babies' sensitive lungs still absorb nicotine, particles and harmful gases.
- second hand smoke contains 4000 chemicals which include carbon monoxide, the same chemical that comes from the car tailpipe. It can kill. The babies' lung work hard, and chances increase for bronchitis and pneumonia.
- babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke don't do well in school. It also doubles their risk of cavities in baby teeth, because it causes babies to have less saliva and more cavity-causing acid in their mouth.
- For Further web help:
- http://www.tobaccorealityunfiltered.com/
- http://www.smokefreenc.org/
- http://www.stepupnc.org/
REFERENCE sources:
(North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation:NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health-Women's and Children's Health Section, and the Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission of North Carolina:'If you smoke and are pregnant: Get Real~Secondhand Smoke Matters.
