Why you shouldn't smoke during pregnancy.

Anyone who smokes knows that it is unhealthy, but smoking during pregnancy also places your baby at great risk for many health problems. You may not realize it but there are many problems that go right down the line including adverse effects during birth and even after. It's unfortunate to realize that even though you should quit upon discovering pregnancy many will not. But you and your baby will both benefit tremendously if you can manage to quit at any time while you are pregnant. We suggest you get as much support as possible to help you quit smoking. We will discuss some of the very real risks and dangers caused by smoking during pregnancy. The nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide you inhale while smoking are passed on to your baby. The complications you can cause to your baby's lungs when you smoke during pregnancy can be traumatic. There are quite a few complications that can be caused by lung damage. You probably didn't realize that all of those chemicals in your baby's blood stream from your smoking can cause the oxygen to be displaced or bound in some reactions. This oxygen is not only necessary for life it helps the baby develop correctly. One of the possibilities caused by smoking during pregnancy is a higher chance of your baby having a cleft palate, cleft lip, or both.Both are considered birth defects and either one or both are more possible in your baby due to the mother smoking while pregnant. Specifically, a cleft in any tissue is a result of incomplete closing during development or growth before birth. As you know, the future effects on your child will be tremendous. There will be various speech problems as well as severe social stigma which will negatively impact your child. More children are being diagnosed with ADHD or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. In fact, millions of diagnoses are made each year, and the figure appears to be climbing each year. Smoking at least half a pack a day, increases your child's tendency toward hyperactivity, although there are many other causes of ADHD. This increases the child's risk of being diagnosed with ADHD. For women who smoke during pregnancy, this should be a tremendous cause for concern.At this time, we don't completely understand the highly negative effects smoking during pregnancy can have on the baby. While we are mainly focused on the effects on the unborn baby, these same effects do not go away after childbirth. These consequences are far reaching and can affect the child well into adulthood. So you see, smoking during pregnancy has lifelong consequences on the child and many of which can be dire. This is why it is extremely important to quit smoking for the sake of both the mother and the baby.