Smoking & Pregnancy Fact Sheet

1. A woman who smokes during her pregnancy has twice the risk of delivering a low-birth-weight infant as that of a nonsmoker.
2. The effect of cigarette smoking upon fetal growth reflects the number of cigarettes smoked daily during the pregnancy and not the cumulative effect of cigarette smoking which occurred before the pregnancy began.
3. If a woman gives up smoking by the fourth month of pregnancy, her risk of delivering a low-birth-weight infant is similar to that of a nonsmoker.
4. Infants of smokers experience an accelerated growth rate during the first six months after delivery compared to infants of nonsmokers. This finding corresponds with viewing birth as the removal of the smoker’s infant from a toxic influence.
5. There is an association between paternal and maternal smoking during pregnancy and infant low-birth-weight.
6. Vitamin B¹² and vitamin C levels are significantly lower in the serum of women who smoke during pregnancy.
7. There is an association between smoking during pregnancy and impaired physical and intellectual development in the offspring.
8. Carbon monoxide levels in the blood are substantially elevated in pregnant women who smoke and may result in damage to the blood vessels in the placenta and fetus.
9. Nicotine is present in the breast milk of mothers who smoke and has been shown to cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and excessively rapid heartbeat in infants.
10. Nicotine has been found in breast milk four to five hours after smoking. There is a direct-dose relationship between the concentration of nicotine and the number of cigarettes smoked.

Resources

U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The Health Consequences ofSmoking, Publication Number HSM 73-8704