More Articles on A Healthy Pregnancy
Thinking About Getting Pregnant?
Congratulations on Your Pregnancy! (for
those who are newly pregnant)
What is a healthy pregnancy weight gain?
Can I continue to eat a vegetarian diet
during pregnancy?
A Pregnancy Menu For You and Your Baby
Treating Nausea and Vomiting
What About Seafood?
Don't Eat That!
Pregnancy and Cholesterol
Wash Those Veggies!
Breastmilk, the Healthiest Diet for Babies
What DOES that Broccoli Do for My Baby?
Vitamin D Supplements in Pregnancy and
Breastfeeding
New Research Affirms Individualized
Vitamin D Supplementation for Pregnant Women
Breastfeeding: Developing a
Future Gourmet
What to Do About The Flu
Gestational Diabetes
Decreasing the Risk of Gestation Diabetes
Keeping and Storing Breastmilk
Pregnancy Weight Gain Guidelines – Do
We Need New Ones?
Breastfeeding: A Woman's Health
Issue
Eating During Labor
Probiotics and a Decreased Risk of
Gestational Diabetes
Pregnancy - a Time to be Active!
Clearing the Air : Quit Smoking for
You and Your Child
What is a Healthy Pregnancy Diet for
Obese Women?
Does Iron Intake Matter?
One Fish, Two Fish... Full Term Birth?
Folic acid in pregnancy and language development
A Mediterranean Diet, Pre-Pregnancy
There is No Substitute for a Healthy Diet
Honest
Healthy Diets for Babies
Exercise for New Moms
A Healthy Pre-Pregnancy Diet
and Gestational Diabetes
Vitamin D and Gestational Diabetes
Great News About Breastfeeding
Peanuts and Pregnancy
Fried Foods and Gestational Diabetes
Iodine supplements - should you take them?
Prevent Gestational Diabetes with a Mediterranean-style diet
FDA Updates Recommendations for Fish Consumption in Pregnancy
Faith Bontrager, RN, BSN
Faith's
passion in nursing is to help people find the options they need to discover
their personal path to optimum health. Ask her friends and they will
tell you that their appreciation of nutritious food has grown through Faith. About
Faith Bontrager, RN, BSN
A Healthy Pregnancy
Clearing the Air
Last month the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a recommendation to providers to support perinatal smoking cessation. We at Dr. Gourmet encourage our readers who are pregnant or would like to become pregnant to stop smoking. We would also like to encourage their partners and families to stop smoking as well.
-ACOG
Research shows that maternal smoking during pregnancy has many complications for both mother and baby. Some of these include:
- Low birth weight (which may cause other complications for baby)
- Premature rupture of membranes
- Preterm birth
- Placenta previa
- Placentas abruption1
- A more than 60% higher risk of baby having congenital heart disease2
- An increased risk of your child having lower verbal scores and poorer performance on language tests3
- An increased risk of your child getting asthma during the first 7 years of life4
- An increased likelihood that your child will be obese5
Even secondhand smoke increases Mom's risk for having a low birth weight baby by 20%. Whenever possible, pregnant women should avoid second-hand smoke.
Will cutting down help? While cutting back is better than nothing, there
is no substitute for clean air. Talk TO your doctor about quitting
now. The greatest benefits come from quitting before 15 weeks of
gestation, so don't delay.
While quitting smoking may be easy for some readers, it is quite difficult for others. Talk to your doctor about smoking cessation programs in your area and about methods of quitting.
Thinking about quitting but haven't set a date? Consider November 18, the Great American Smokeout. The American Cancer Society suggests that smokers quit for a day. Many businesses look for ways to support smokers as they attempt to quit for 24 hours (and maybe for good!) This year's motto, "Less cancer; more birthdays," has special meaning to pregnant women and their partners.
Want an additional motivator? Consider the amount you currently spend daily on cigarettes. Multiply that number by 365 days/year then by 18 years. Have you paid for your child's college education? Graduate school? This doesn't even include the money you saved on health care costs.
Care for yourself and your child!
1. Smoking During Pregnancy Increases Risk for Preterm Birth.
Nancy A. Melville.
Preventive Medicine 2010: the Annual Meeting of the American College of Preventive
Medicine (ACPM): Abstract 212669. Presented February 19, 2010. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/717666
2. Study reported at the American Heart Association 2006 Scientific
Sessions shows. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/548088
3. Smoking During Pregnancy Affects Speech-Processing
Ability in Newborn. Alexandra P.F. Key; Melissa Ferguson; Dennis
L. Molfese; Kelley Peach; Casey Lehman; Victoria J. Molfese.
Posted: 04/27/2007; Environmental Health Perspectives. 2007;115(4):623
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/554844
4. Maternal Smoking in Pregnancy,
Fetal Development, and Childhood Asthma.
Jouni J.K. Jaakkola; Mika Gissler.
Posted: 01/12/2004; American Journal of Public Health. 2004;94(1).
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/466776
5. Child obesity significantly increases the risk
that a child will become an obese adult. Am J Clinical Nutrition 2005:82:393-8