Smoking and drinking alcohol is definitely a wrong decision for a pregnant woman who wants to heighten the chances of light delivery and good health for her child. Alcohol and cigarettes are substances that affect a child’s development in various ways. From the 3 to the 8 weeks of pregnancy at the embryonic period, most rapid changes in the future child’s body occur. During this period, the central nervous system, internal organs, muscles, and skeleton begin to form as well, as the heart starts to pump blood. Some external organs such as the eyes, ears, or nose begin to develop. Later during the fetal period, important changes take place as well: the lungs start functioning, the sex of the child becomes visible, organs and systems organize, and the mother can even feel her child’s movement. Therefore, it is crucial for the future mother to follow certain recommendations to ensure the child’s health.
Tobacco and alcohol are included in the teratogenic substances along with drugs, radiation, environmental pollution, and infectious diseases, any of which can produce a negative effect on the child’s health, life, and childbirth. Some women mistakenly think that the utilization of light cigarettes during pregnancy almost fully reduces the negative impact of smoking on the offspring. However, in reality, the nicotine dose light cigarettes consist of is not much lower than in average smoking devices. Even the amount of 2-3 cigarettes a day can endanger the child’s life or health, as well as cause miscarriage, premature birth, and abnormalities. For many future mothers to give up smoking, it is important first to understand which impact cigarettes can directly produce on the offspring’s body.
The impact of smoking is maximal on the first pregnancy weeks as p=the placenta has not been formed yet and, therefore, is not ready to protect the child from the hit of toxins from the mother’s blood. However, the risk is not over in the second and third trimesters as well after the placenta is formed. The placenta connects the mother’s blood circle with the offspring’s bloodstream and passes minerals and nutritious matters from the woman’s body to the child, and simultaneously prevents the matriculation of the majority of toxic junctions which can harm the fetus. However, by smoking, drinking alcohol, or taking any other harmful drugs, the placenta does not manage to deal with such amount of toxins, therefore, both the placenta and the child suffer. Some of the outcomes of smoking during pregnancy include the placenta previa, placenta shape and functions disorder, premature placenta aging and placental infarctions, miscarriages, abnormalities of intrauterine development, and intellectual inhibition. Hence, it is recommended not to smoke during pregnancy, however, nearly 11% of women do it.
Alcohol is as harmful as cigarettes for the future child as it causes many health problems as well. The range of outcomes generated by prenatal alcohol exposure includes FAS, p-FAS, ARND and leads to slow physical growth, facial abnormalities, and mental impairment. Women of reproductive age who had sexual contact without contraception should abstain from drinking alcohol. The unfavorable impact of alcohol on pregnancy is so great that even medicine and balsams that consist even of a small amount of alcohol are recommended to avoid. If a woman continues taking alcoholic drinks during pregnancy, she can face such outcomes as miscarriage, weakness of the immunity system, respiratory impairment, heart problems, and predisposition to alcohol. Therefore, doctors highly recommend avoiding drinking during pregnancy to keep both the child and the future mother safe.