What complications are caused by smoking during pregnancy?
• Placental problems. Your unborn baby gets nutrients from you through the placenta. Smoking doubles the risk that the placenta can become damaged. This can cause bleeding and even your baby’s death. • Increased risk of premature rupture of the membranes. When the sac holding your baby breaks, you go into labor. If this happens before 37 weeks, your baby is born prematurely and may have serious and life-threatening complications. How does smoking affect your developing baby? • Smoking doubles the risk for low birth weight and premature birth. • It raises the risk for serious lifelong health problems like cerebral palsy, mental retardation and learning problems. • Newborns of smokers are often jittery and hard to soothe, perhaps because of nicotine withdrawal. • Babies of women who smoked during pregnancy are up to three times more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). • Babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to have birth defects, including hea
