Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for your baby

It's difficult to imagine when you can't see your baby, but smoking when you're pregnant is like blowing smoke in your baby's face. When you smoke a cigarette, the poisons from the cigarette smoke are passed on to your baby.

Not only is this very distressing for your baby, but the exposure to these poisons can last up to 15 minutes at a time. It's like putting your baby in a smoke-filled room for 15 minutes.

This happens for each and every cigarette you smoke, so cutting down on your smoking rather than quitting completely will still have a harmful effect on your baby's wellbeing.

The lungs

When you smoke you breathe in more than 4,000 chemicals from the cigarette. The smoke goes from your lungs into your bloodstream. That blood flows to your placenta and umbilical cord, right into your baby's tiny body. This causes your baby to struggle for oxygen.

The heart

One of the chemicals found in cigarettes is carbon monoxide, a dangerous chemical that gets into your bloodstream.

This restricts the supply of oxygen that's essential for your baby's healthy growth and development. This causes your baby's tiny heart to pump even harder.

Your baby's tiny body is completely dependent on yours, so if you smoke throughout your pregnancy, your baby will go through nicotine withdrawal once it is born. This can make your baby stressed and irritable and it may be difficult to stop them crying.

Smoking while you are pregnant also increases the risk of your baby dying from cot death by at least 25%.

Second-hand smoke is very dangerous for anyone exposed to it, but it is particularly dangerous for children - read the facts here.

Children exposed to second-hand smoke are at risk of ear infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma attacks and meningitis. Last year in the UK, 300,000 GP visits and 9,500 hospital admissions were caused by children breathing in other people's cigarette smoke.

Many people are choosing to use e-cigarettes to help them stop smoking. While these products are not completely risk free and the vapour may contains some toxins, these are at far lower levels than in cigarette smoke, so using an e-cigarette is a great deal safer than smoking

However, little is known about any potential risks of e-cigarette vapour to your baby and mums-to-be are therefore recommended to use one of the licensed stop smoking medications such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to help reduce any withdrawal symptoms when quitting smoking.

If you do want to use an e-cigarette – maybe because you’ve tried other methods without success – there is lots of advice and support available from your local Stop Smoking Service. The most important thing for you and your baby is to stop smoking.

For more information get in touch with us, or you can find lots of tips and advice for a healthy pregnancy at Start4Life.

Most pregnant women can use NRT, but it is important to talk with your doctor or midwife first. They can help you to weigh up the risks of continuing to smoke against the benefits of trying to quit smoking using NRT products. Using NRT is safer than smoking because it doesn't contain poisons like tar or carbon monoxide.

Our trained advisers understand the issues involved during pregnancy and can give you confidential advice. They can also send you a free information pack and tell you about your nearest Stop Smoking Service.