What Effects Do Cigarettes Have on a Fetus?

We all know that smoking is bad, since it can cause lung cancer, and many other diseases. In addition to the harm it can cause under normal circumstances, smoking is a habit pregnant women should avoid at all costs. Smoking can greatly increase the risk of several problems while you are pregnant and after you give birth.

Effects on weight and size

• Smoking affects a fetus's growth rate negatively. Babies of smokers are, on average, 150 to 250 grams lighter than babies of non smokers. Other than being lighter in weight, babies of smokers tend to be shorter in length and have a smaller chest and head circumference than babies of nonsmokers. In teenage mothers the effects tend to be worse than in adult mothers. Male babies also seem to be more affected than female babies, with more weight loss, lower body fat, and smaller head circumferences than female babies.

  The main components in cigarette smoke that affect fetal growth are carbon monoxide and nicotine, although cadmium and toluene have also been shown to stunt fetal growth.

Effects on brain function

• Children who were exposed to smoke while in the womb are more likely to develop learning disorders, behavioral problems and lower IQs than children of non smokers. Lower test scores related to cognitive functioning and poor language development are also apparent in children of people who smoked during pregnancy. However, some researchers have pointed out that these effects may be more of a class issue, since the children in the studies were usually from different socioeconomic backgrounds than the children of non smokers.

  Behavioral problems are also associated with being exposed to smoke while in the womb - studies have shown that three year olds whose mothers smoked while pregnant were much more likely to display immaturity, aggressive behavior, and oppositional behavior. These results were still the same after being controlled for home environment, socioeconomic status and material psychological status.

Effects on body and lungs

• A side effect of low weight is that the baby's body is often underdeveloped at birth. This can affect the baby's lungs adversely, causing many of the children of smokers to have to be put on respirators after birth. Children of smokers also have a higher rate of asthma, as well as having two to three times the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in their infancy.