Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking During Pregnancy
Alcohol
Alcohol easily crosses into the placenta during pregnancy and goes into your baby’s bloodstream. Drinking alcohol (beer, wine, wine coolers, liquor, most cough syrups, and some medications) can cause birth defects in your baby. These birth defects include physical, mental and behavioral abnormalities known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Babies with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome may have:
- small heads and malformed facial features
- abnormal arms or legs
- heart defects
- poor muscle coordination
- mental retardation
- hyperactivity, nervousness, and short attention spans
Do not drink while you are pregnant. There is no known level of alcohol that is considered safe during pregnancy.
Street Drugs
Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other street drugs damage growing babies. Babies who are exposed to one or more of these drugs while their mother is pregnant may have:
- low birth weight
- tremors and jitteriness after birth
- a high-pitched cry
- serious medical problems requiring intensive care
- retarded growth
- problems with vision and muscle coordination
- permanent learning disabilities
Smoking
If you smoke, your baby will not get all the food and oxygen needed to grow properly. When you smoke:
- Your blood vessels carry oxygen and food to your baby. Nicotine from cigarettes makes these blood vessels smaller. Smaller blood vessels means there is less blood
- d oxygen getting to your baby.
- The carbon monoxide in cigarettes is a poisonous gas. Carbon monoxide replaces some of the oxygen in your blood and keeps your baby from getting all the oxygen. Smoking when you are pregnant can cause the following:
- Low birth weight
- Baby born too early to survive
- Baby born early and with many health problems
The sooner you quit smoking, the better your chances are for a healthy, normal weight baby.
Babies in the same room as a smoker breathe in second hand smoke. This smoke is filled with more tar, nicotine, and poisonous gases than the smoke inhaled by the smoker.
Babies exposed to second hand smoke may have:
- more illness
- more risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)