In this week s episode of ER , Nurse Hathaway advises a pregnant woman to quit smoking for the health of her developing baby. Even just reducing your smoking during pregnancy can be of advantage to the baby. The following information was provided by Ms. Jordan in an interview. However, many women try and are successful in quitting smoking during pregnancy. The main risk to the fetus is that it might not grow as well.
Smoking inhibits the amount of blood flow which carries oxygen to the baby.
Those babies might end up weighing up to 8-12 ounces less in their birthweight. There are also the risks of pre-term labor, an early water break which can lead to infection in both mother and child, or miscarriage. There also are some studies that show that exposed babies might experience developmental difficulties. Ideally, the best time to quit smoking would be before you get pregnant. However, oftentimes you are pregnant before you realize it.