Smoking during pregnancy

If you are a smoker and get pregnant, you should quit. If you are not a smoker, avoid secondhand smoke. Many programs are available to help pregnant women quit smoking. Ask your doctor or nurse-midwife for information on quitting smoking while pregnant.

Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of:¹

• Placenta abruptio and placenta previa.
• Bleeding during pregnancy.
• Preterm labor.
• Miscarriage and stillbirth.
• A low-birth-weight baby.
• Death early in life (twice the risk of babies born to nonsmoking mothers), particularly due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

If your baby or child is exposed to smoke after birth, he or she will be more prone to illness and breathing problems.

Citations

1. Gardella JR, Hill JA III (2000). Environmental toxins associated with recurrent pregnancy loss. Seminars in Reproductive Medicine, 18(4): 407–424.