effects of tobacco smoke on fetus

effects of tobacco smoke on fetus

Effects of Tobacco Smoke on Fetus, Infant, and Child
After twenty years of research, more evidence shows a clear relationship between involuntary tobacco smoke and health hazards to children. Involuntary tobacco smoke causes adverse effects on fetus, infant, and child. As pointed out by Samet, Lewit, and Warner (1994) in their journal, “Involuntary Smoking and Children’s Health,” involuntary intake of tobacco smoke, also known as passive smoking, comes from “exposure to and absorption of toxic agents generated by tobacco combustion and is a biologically plausible cause of disease” (p.96). Thus, one is a passive smoker when one inhales environmental smoke or maternal smoke. A vivid image is that of an unborn child smoking a cigarette in the mother’s womb.
Prior to birth and in the years following, proper care must be given to protect neonates from tobacco smoke, both maternal and environmental. When a mother chooses to smoke before or during pregnancy, she is placing her unborn child at risk for severe health hazards. Samet et al. (1994), state the tobacco-smoking mother is at an increased risk of decreased fertility, ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, and perinatal mortality (p.101). Moreover, Tinsley Davis, a scientist of the Boston Museum of Science, concludes nicotine crosses placenta, the mother’s blood stream to fetus. (Video) In addition, a mother could go into premature labor and delivery and/or have complications with birth. The sooner the mother quits or removes herself from smoke-filled environments, the less harmful the effects will be on the unborn child; therefore, increasing the likelihood of giving birth to a healthy baby. As the mother smokes or is around smokers, she is passing harmful chemicals onto her unborn child.
Again, Samet, et al.(1994), maintain, “The exposure occurs to the unborn child as components of tobacco smoke cross the placenta to the fetal circulation and after birth as the child breathes...