Smoking During Pregnancy
Smoking and second-hand smoke are harmful during pregnancy, and after your baby is born. Cigarettes contain many chemicals that cross the placenta into the baby’s blood. Smoking kills about 5,600 people every year in British Columbia - more than from car crashes, alcohol, drugs, suicide, AIDS and homicide combined.
If you’re thinking about getting pregnant and you smoke, now’s the perfect time to quit.
If you’re already pregnant and smoke, now is the time for you and your partner to stop or reduce the amount you smoke.
For help to quit smoking or reduce the amount you smoke:
- See your health care practitioner.
- Join a stop smoking program and stick with it.
- Contact Quitnow by phone at 1-877-455-2233 for free, confidential, no-pressure counselling and support from trained specialists. Or you can visit
for support in the privacy of your home. - Call your public health office or the BC NurseLine at 1-866-215-4700. Or check the BC HealthGuide OnLine at for information on local stop smoking programs.
- If you need more reasons to quit, read the BC HealthFile #30a, The Harmful Effects of Second-hand Smoke.
- Ask for support from your partner, friends, family and co-workers.
- If you smoke to deal with stress, find other healthy ways to relax. For example: go for a walk, take a bath or visit with a friend.
- Focus on the health of you and your baby as a motivator.
Harmful to the baby
During pregnancy, smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke contribute to a higher risk of:
- slowing your baby’s growth and development
- miscarriage
- stillbirth (2 - 3 times higher)
- preterm birth and low birth weight
After the baby’s born, smoking and second-hand smoke contribute to a higher risk of:
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- a reduced milk supply in the mother
- ear infections
- respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis
- hospital admissions in the first year of life
- colic or inconsolable crying spells
- your child also becoming a smoker
Harmful to the mother and household members
Smoking:
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promotes high cholesterol
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increases the risk of cancer of the cervix, infertility and menstrual problems
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is a powerful stimulant
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is extremely addictive
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causes gum disease
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causes heart and circulatory disease, lung and other cancers, emphysema and chronic bronchitis
Links:
Motherisk
Baby’s Best Chance
Alcohol & Drug Referral Service
Call toll free: 1-800-663-1441
