The dangerous mix of pregnancy, alcohol and tobacco
Today, most pregnant women know it: alcohol and tobacco smoking have devastating consequences on the growth of newborn children, which can persist throughout their lives. And yet some of them continue to smoke, drink or both. Getting out of such habits is no easy task.
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The detrimental effects of alcohol and cigarette smoking on the health of unborn babies are relatively well understood by the majority of women, who wilfully put in additional effort over the 9 months of their pregnancy. However, back in 1998, 3.9% of pregnant women confessed that they continued to drink one glass of alcohol a day, while virtually one third of pregnant smokers between the ages of 25 and 35 said they hadn’t given up smoking.
The dangerous mix of pregnancy and alcohol
While it’s a well-known fact that bottle-feeding alcohol to your child is an extremely bad idea, a vast number of women are unaware of how much their own alcohol consumption affects their unborn baby. Alcohol goes directly from the mother’s blood through the placenta into foetal blood, a process which French paediatrician Philippe Dehaene describes as follows: “If the mother is tipsy, the foetus is drunk”.
Even when consumed moderately during meals, alcohol has serious repercussions on foetal development throughout the baby’s growth, especially during the first three months of pregnancy. Recent studies revealed that spontaneous abortion and preterm delivery rate increased in women having between 1 and 2 drinks a day.
Beyond 21 drinks per week, the foetus is subject to foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which affects more than one in 1000 newborn babies. These unfortunate children suffer from growth deficiency (abnormal height, weight and cranial circumference), skull and facial abnormalities (flat mid-face, small eye openings, eyes wide apart) and experience problems due to central nervous system (CNS) damage. The effects of FAS persist into adulthood and may cause learning difficulties, speech impediment, behavioural disorders (impulsiveness, distractedness, difficulty in assimilating social rules).
The dangerous mix of pregnancy and tobacco
Female tobacco consumption is rising at a steady rate. Over 8 million women smoke regularly in the U.K. Studies have indicated that expectant mothers cut back on their daily cigarette consumption to an average 8 cigarettes a day, as compared with 13 a day for those who are not pregnant.
Yet this seems insufficient considering the risks of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and preterm birth. Smokers are three times as likely as non-smokers to undergo spontaneous abortion, risks of prenatal mortality (PNM) go up from 50 to 150% and chances of sudden infant death syndrome are twice as high when parents smoke.
It’s never too late to quit
The difficulty of giving up one’s smoking and drinking habits is considerable, as it often involves more than just one person. Alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking are associated with conviviality, with moments shared with relatives, friends or colleagues. Therefore, mothers-to-be shouldn’t be carrying complete responsibility and should be able to rely on the help of people around them. Family and friends should be aware of their influence in a pregnant women’s ability to resist the temptation of “lighting up”, and be aware of the negative effects of cigarette smoke on the health of non smokers.
You might think that quitting smoking is beyond your capacity, but remember that trustworthy people, doctors and friends, are there to help you. Any drink or cigarette you keep away from will definitely go towards ensuring the health of your child.
Don’t you think it’s worth the effort?
Copyright © 2009 Doctissimo
Posted 30.07.2010
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