Smoking and pregnancy: kicking the habit helps moms and babies By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
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study from the University of Edinburgh reviewed more than 10 million births and indicates that rates of premature deaths, still births, and newborn deaths decreased by nearly 8 percent since a ban to prohibit smoking in public places. They estimate that 1,500 lives were saved because of the measure between 1995 and 2011. Though lawmakers generally enact these laws to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke, "studies have shown that the implementation of smoke-free laws and policies can increase cessation...and also Seaman help pregnant women," said Julie Seaman, coordinator of the CNY Regional Center for Tobacco Health Systems at St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center. "Researchers found a 10 percent reduction in premature births and severe childhood asthma attacks within a year of smoke-free laws being introduced. This could be the result of more pregnant women being able to quit or being exposed to less secondhand smoke," Seaman said. Joe Wicks, lead coordinator for
community engagement for Tobacco Free Central New York, believes that restricting where people can smoke, along with educating moms, can help reduce the number of smoking mothers. Smoking while pregnant can dramatically affect babies' health. "It contributes to the trend that you see around the community we live in and the realization in the past 10 to 20 years that smoking is bad and second-hand smoking is almost as bad, with all the chemicals in second-hand smoke," Wicks said. "Smoking isn't a protected class or a right because it affects others. "For someone who's pregnant and trying to quit, having fewer places to smoke can help them." On average, it takes seven attempts to quit successfully. The March of Dimes states that half of all pregnancies are unplanned, which means that many smoking women unwitting expose their babies during the earliest phases of development. "A recent study suggests that women who smoke anytime during the first trimester put their fetus at a higher risk for birth defects, particularly congenital heart defects, than women who have never smoked," Seaman said. "That risk only continues to increase the longer into the pregnancy a woman
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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • January 2016
How to Quit The experts' best tips for quitting include: • Setting a target quit date. Write it on a calendar. • Making plans to quit, such as disposing of ashtrays and lighters. • Preparing for withdrawal symptoms. • Asking for support from friends and family. • Replacing smoking with a healthful habit, such as taking a walk instead of smoking after meals. smokes, and is also impacted by the number of cigarettes smoked." Although quitting before pregnancy is ideal, Seaman added that quitting at any point in the pregnancy is better than continuing to smoke, which can contribute to problems such as ectopic pregnancy, placenta previa, spontaneous abortion, pre-eclampsia, preterm births, and still births, among others. After baby is born, it's important for new moms to continue to stay tobacco-free. In addition to second-hand smoke, which negatively affects babies' development, so-called "third hand smoke," the toxins clinging to the smoker's skin, hair, and clothing, can also affect infants. Cessation can also help parents stay healthier so they can remain active parts of their children's lives in the decades to come. Smoking has been identified as a factor in cardiovascular disease, numerous types of cancer, stroke, and many other life-threatening health problems. Even for children born seemingly healthy to smoking mothers, the exposure can cause long-term problems for the youngsters such as learning disabilities, asthma, and greater likelihood of infections.
• Keeping the hands busy doing something else, such as knitting. • Avoiding e-cigarettes. They are filled with chemicals that aren't FDA-regulated and do not help smokers really kick the habit. The following free resources can help pregnant women quit smoking: • 1-800-QUIT-NOW, 1-866-NY-QUITS • www.becomeanex. org/pregnant-smokers.php • www.smokefree.gov, www.nysmokefree.com •www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/TobaccoUsePregnancy/Resources.htm • www.marchofdimes. org/pregnancy/alcohol-and-drugs.aspx
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