The Facts about Smoking: What Every Mom Needs to Know
Click below to listen to the Quit With Us "Moms" radio spot.
Quitting is hard enough, but if you're pregnant and still smoking, quitting now is more important than ever. But you don't have to do it alone. The Louisiana Tobacco Quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, can help. Need a reason to quit? Babies exposed to cigarette smoke in the womb and after they're born are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS. And if they do survive, they may face a lifetime of learning and health problems. Here are some important facts that every mom or mom-to-be should know about smoking.
- There is no safe level of smoking when you are pregnant, and every cigarette is harming you're baby's chances of being born healthy.
- There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposure can be dangerous.*
- Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke is dangerous for the mother and the baby and can lead to SIDS or other health problems for the baby. (CDC)
- Secondhand smoke causes SIDS, acute respiratory infections, ear problems and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children.*
- Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms in children and slows their lung growth.*
- Infants exposed to tobacco can exhibit significant learning, social, emotional, or behavioral problems.
- Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and accounts for approximately 1 of every 5 deaths (438,000 people) each year (CDC, 2008).
- Tobacco use by mothers contributes to a three times greater impact for low birth weight babies than cocaine (CDC).
- Expectant mothers who quit cigarettes reduce their baby's chances of having attention, motor control and perception problems. 1
- Children of women who smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day during pregnancy were more likely to become addicted to nicotine or progress from regular smoking to nicotine addiction as adults compared with children of women who smoked fewer than 20 cigarettes a day (NIDA, 2004).
- Estimated neonatal health care costs attributable to maternal smoking are approximately $366 million per year in the United States.
- By quitting, you can greatly reduce the chances of your baby getting sick or dying from SIDS. You also reduce the chances of miscarriage, premature birth and low birth weight.
- It's never too late to quit smoking during your pregnancy.
The Louisiana Tobacco Quitline: For Moms
- The Louisiana Tobacco Quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, offers free, confidential help from caring, compassionate Quit Coaches who are available to assist you with quitting while you are pregnany and after the baby is born. Our coaches are specially trained to understand and emphathize with the specific challenges faced by pregnant tobacco users.
- The Quitline offers services for pregnant women, including assistance with quitting anytime during pregnancy as well as post partum support to help moms stay on track after the baby is born.
1. Landgren, M; Kjellman, B; Gillberg, C. 1998. Attention deficit disorder with developmental coordination disorders. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 79(3):207-12).
* U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [cited 2006 Sep 27]. Available from: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/report/.
