The Effects of Smoking during the First Trimester - Research Paper Example

The Effects of Smoking during the First Trimester Abstract The first trimester of pregnancy is of utmost importance for the developing fetus. Maternal smoking during this period can provide for injurious effects for the baby born. This is because of the wide number of chemicals and carcinogens present in cigarette smoking. Smoking affects the health of both the pregnant woman as well as her unborn baby. Women suffer from nutritional deficiencies due to smoking and they may also have pathologies like placenta previa and abruption placentae. The infant born has a risk of respiratory depression accompanied with congenital cardiac defects and cleft lip. Numerous studies have been conducted to indicate the risk of smoking during pregnancy and strong link between maternal smoking in pregnancy and low birth weight of the infant, behavioral dysregulation in child as well as congenital anomalies have been revealed. The Effects of Smoking during the First Trimester Smoking is hazardous to health and cigarette smoking during the period of pregnancy can prove to be harmful not only for the mother but also for the fetus. According to statistics, one out of every eight females smokes during the period of gestation. This is hazardous and the Public Health Service in the United States highlights the fact that there would be a reduction by ten percent in the death of infants if smoking during pregnancy is avoided. It has also been observed that the number of cigarettes smoked also has an impact and there is an inverse relationship between smoking and fetal well-being (Brizer 2003). A rise in the number of female smokers provides for risks for the mother and child which have been reported by various studies. These negative effects include abortion of the fetus spontaneously, ectopic pregnancy as well as congenital defects in the limbs of the new born baby (Rutter and Quine 2004). Obstetricians label smoking to provide for the most lethal effects on the unborn baby. Robert Welch who is a gynecologist and obstetrician at the Providence Hospital in Michigan has gone as far as saying that smoking is far more dangerous in comparison to chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. He explains that such chronic conditions can be managed effectively by medications but there is no medication which can prevent the negative effects of smoking on the fetus (Woolston 2013). Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is associated with many negative outcomes and thus expecting mothers should quit their habit for both their wellbeing and the wellbeing of the fetus. Smoking by pregnant women results in physical and mental developmental delays in the new born child. This can be due to various reasons. A significant cause of this is the poor nutrition of the smoking women and their diets are mainly lacking essential micronutrients. Another drawback noticed in smoking females is that even if they tend to manage a balanced diet, their body levels of important substances which include vitamin A, E and C are lesser than levels of non-smoking females. Smoking during pregnancy can also provide for adverse and undesired effects for the mother. These women have a higher susceptibility of suffering from “abruption placentae, placenta previa, spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, preterm births, premature rupture of the membranes and amnionitis.” All these pathologies of pregnancy can affect the health of the mother and put her at the risk of serious complications (Morgan and Dickerson 2003). The smoke of cigarette comprises of chemicals above four thousand and it also contains sixty compounds which may lead to cancer and these are the main culprits for the fetal effects seen in smoking mothers. When a women smokes during the period of pregnancy, these chemicals make way through the maternal blood stream affect the supply of oxygen as well as nutrients to the fetus. All of the chemicals of cigarette smoke are associated with negative effects but the most harmful components of this smoke are nicotine and carbon monoxide. Experts have indicated that it is mainly the presence of these two substances for bringing about problems with the development of the baby. The major issues which result due to smoking in the infant are stillbirth, babies having reduced weight at birth and delivery before the completion of the gestational period. These effects mainly result because of the interplay of carbon monoxide and nicotine in reducing the oxygen provision to the developing fetus. The levels of oxygen are reduced by nicotine by its actions on the vascular system by tightening and constriction of the blood vessels in the mother. This affects the umbilical cord as well which is the main route of oxygen and nutrient supply for the baby. The vascular of the placenta as well as the fetus also undergoes narrowing and thus the supply to the fetus is impeded. The carbon monoxide acts on the red blood cells and as the red blood cells have a greater affinity for carbon monoxide; the amount of oxygen carried by these cells reduces. Hence, there is an overall reduction in the nutrient and oxygen supply to the growing baby affecting its growth in all aspects (Woolston 2013). Cigarette smoking can affect the child in various ways. If a woman smokes one pack per day, it results in a reduction of half pound from the weight of the baby. In a similar way, if two packs are smoked per day, the baby born would be one pound less than its desired weight. Weight reduction results due to the slow and inappropriate growth of the baby and it is the internal organs which are mainly affected by this. Infants having a reduced weight at birth do not have properly developed bodies. Their respiratory functions are inefficient because their lungs are not fully developed. These infants are mainly placed on artificial breathing machines following birth for a few weeks. The delay in the development of respiratory system does not only affect the child at birth but these babies have a greater tendency to suffer from asthma and they also have a very high susceptibility of sudden infant death syndrome. Cardiac defects are also extremely common in these babies of smoking mothers. This effect is mainly produced by smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy. A report published by the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the year 2011 explained that infants born to mothers who smoked during the first trimester had a risk of suffering from right ventricular outflow obstructions as well as defects in the atrial septa. The central nervous system of the developing embryo is also affected by smoking. It is believed that children born to women who smoke during pregnancy may have lower intelligence quotients, learning disorders as well as problems with their behavior (Woolston 2013). Smoking by pregnant women is dangerous throughout the course of pregnancy but a report that was published in the journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2009 shed led upon an important aspect. According to the report, if pregnant women stopped smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy, the chances of giving birth to a baby at complete term with a proper weight were very high. These chances reduced with subsequent trimesters. Thus, this study explains the importance of the first trimester in the development of the baby (Woolston 2013). A study conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health also reflected upon the impact of smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that nineteen percent of the children suffering from cleft lip in Norway were strongly linked with maternal smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy. Clefts in the oral cavity form a frequently seen congenital birth defect. The complete development and closing of the lip is achieved by the fifth week of pregnancy and this closing of the palate is completed by the ninth gestational week. If this process of closing is hampered cleft lip or cleft palate results which require corrective surgery. The research was conducted to assess the impact of smoking during the first trimester on both the developmental defects. Results revealed that smoking ten cigarettes in one day increased the risk of cleft lip by two-fold. But this risk was not strongly linked with the associated of cleft palate. Thus, congenital anomalies like cleft lip can be prevented by avoiding smoking during the period of pregnancy (Norwegian Institute of Public Health 2008). The effects of smoking during pregnancy have been highlighted by studies in different countries. A study conducted by Juárez and Merlo in Sweden explained the strong link between maternal smoking and low birth weight of children born to these mothers. The research was based on data collected from the Swedish Medical Birth Register where data of 677,922 children who were born between the years of 2002 to 2010 to women who were natives of Sweden were collected. For a thorough analysis a comparison between siblings of mothers who smoked were also taken. It was assessed that a reduction in the birth weight of the children was seen depending if the mothers were light smokers or heavy smokers. The numbers of cigarettes were directly related to the amount of reduced weight. Furthermore the assessment of the siblings revealed that smoking continuously resulted in a lower birth weight by 162 grams for women classified as light smokers whereas a reduction of 226 g was observed in women classified as heavy smokers. The study also revealed that birth weight improved in women who quit smoking but in case of a relapse during the gestational period, the weight again lowered down. The study emphasized the fact that public health agencies should work towards creating awareness amongst mothers to prevent maternal smoking and they should also create paths so that these women do not have relapses (Juarez and Merlo 2013). Maternal smoking during the period of pregnancy tends to leave negative health effects on the children which persist for years. A study conducted by Cornelius and his colleagues explained this aspect of smoking. This study determined that effect of smoking by the mother on behavioral dysregulation which “included aggression, rule breaking, externalizing, social problems, attention, distractibility and activity.” The study was conducted on young mother between the ages of 12 to 18 years who were African Americans and smoked during pregnancy. The children born to these mothers were followed over a period of 14 years. After a thorough analysis after 14 years, the researchers concluded that these children who had been exposed to smoke during their prenatal period suffered from greater social issues and were more violent in comparison to other children of their age. These children had a greater probability of being distracted and had problems in focusing and giving attention. Another important aspect which was revealed was that these effects were more prominent and resulted mainly in those children whose mothers smoked during the first trimester of pregnancy. Maternal Smoking thus also results in psychosocial problems for the children due to prenatal exposure (Cornelius 2012). Smoking has many negative effects on the health of an individual. The development of an embryo can be affected if it is exposed to smoke during the period of gestation due to maternal smoking. Maternal smoking provides for pathologies in the mother as well as the child due to the chemicals and carcinogens present in cigarette smoke. The mother may have an abortion or suffer from pathologies of the placenta due to smoking. The infant born may have reduced birth weight and there is a higher susceptibility that he may suffer from congenital birth defects including cardiac as well as respiratory problems. These effects are more pronounced if the women smoke during the first trimester of pregnancy. References Brizer, D. A. (2003). Quitting smoking for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Cornelius, M. D., Goldschmidt, L., De, G. N. M., & Larkby, C. (January 01, 2012). Long-term effects of prenatal cigarette smoke exposure on behavior dysregulation among 14-year-old offspring of teenage mothers. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 16, 3, 694-705. Juárez, S. P., & Merlo, J. (January 01, 2013). Revisiting the effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on offspring birthweight: a quasi-experimental sibling analysis in Sweden. Plos One, 8, 4.) Morgan, J., & Dickerson, J. W. T. (2003). Nutrition in early life. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley. Norwegian Institute of Public Health (2008, December 23). First Trimester Smoking Linked To Oral Clefts. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/12/081218094559.htm Quine, L., & Rutter, D. (2004). Changing health behaviour: Intervention and research with social cognition models. Buckingham: Open University Press. Woolston, C. (2013). How smoking during pregnancy affects you and your baby. BabyCenter. 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