If you continue to smoke while you’re pregnant, it can cause serious harm to your baby’s health. Every pregnancy is different and even if you smoked during your last pregnancy and had a healthy baby, that does not mean smoking during pregnancy is safe. Quitting smoking at any time during pregnancy – especially early on – can give your baby a healthier start in life.
Smoking can cause complications during your pregnancy, such as:
- Miscarriage
- Ectopic Pregnancy
- Placental Abruption
- Placental Previa
- Preeclampsia
- Preterm Birth
Quitting before you give birth will give your baby these benefits:
- Less risk of being born too early.
- Less risk of being born with birth defects like cleft lip or cleft palate.
- Higher chance of having a healthy birth weight (more than 5.5 pounds) and growing on track.
- More likely to come home from the hospital with you and not to stay in the hospital until they are healthy enough to go home.
- Increased chance lungs will develop well.
- More likely to have normal brain development before birth and through early childhood.
- Less likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
E-cigarettes should not be used during pregnancy. This is because e-cigarettes usually contain nicotine, which can hurt pregnant women and their babies. Nicotine is addictive and can damage a developing baby’s brain and lungs. E-cigarettes may also contain other substances that are harmful to a developing baby, like heavy metals, flavorings and cancer-causing chemicals.
There is little evidence that e-cigarettes help people quit. Quitting all forms of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, is best for you and your baby. Talk to your health care provider about proven, safe and effective quit methods.
Visit Smokefree.gov to learn more about e-cigarettes.
