Pregnancy &
Smoking
Second-Hand Smoke Harms Innocent Bystanders
Did you know that when you are pregnant, tobacco smoke can affect your pregnancy and your unborn child, even if you are not the one smoking? Did you know that millions of children in the U.S. are exposed to tobacco smoke at home every day? Did you know that second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses?
Second-hand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is the smoke breathed out by a smoker, and the smoke from the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar. Nicotine is probably the most well-known substance in a cigarette, but cigarettes are composed of almost 4000 chemicals, including carbon monoxide, cyanide, and ammonia. Nicotine is addictive, but all of the chemicals in cigarettes are toxic. These toxic chemicals affect everyone who comes in contact with the tobacco smoke, not only the person who is smoking the cigarette or cigar. The chemicals in tobacco smoke pollute the air, and affect the health of infants, babies and children who are truly "innocent bystanders".
Although no parent could imagine an infant or child actually smoking a cigarette, we now know that breathing air contaminated with tobacco smoke can be seriously harmful to all ages. Nicotine can pass from the mother to the baby while the baby is still in the womb. A pregnant woman who is exposed to tobacco smoke gets less oxygen for herself and for her unborn baby, and it can seriously affect the baby's growth. A pregnant woman who is regularly exposed to tobacco smoke is much more likely to have a premature baby, or a low birth weight baby, putting the baby at risk for more illnesses and hospitalizations than a baby who is born at a normal weight.
Babies who are exposed to tobacco smoke are at greater risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Infants and children who are exposed to tobacco smoke have more ear infections and more frequent respiratory illnesses. In fact, in the first two years of life, children who are exposed to second-hand smoke from parental smoking have more than a 50% increased risk of getting bronchitis and pneumonia. Second-hand smoke can cause coughing and wheezing, and children with asthma often require many more visits to the doctor because tobacco smoke worsens their symptoms.
Cigarette smoke filters through the entire house, and can easily be detected on furniture, carpets, curtains, and clothes. Even when smoking is limited to one room in the house, the smoke remains on surfaces for long periods of time, and thus children experience "passive" smoking. We don't always think about how many times and places children are exposed to tobacco smoke outside of their homes. Cars, restaurants, and even playgrounds and parks are all places where children breathe in air that has been filled with the thousands of particles from tobacco smoke. Smoking occurs in family childcare centers, in "smoking areas" of childcare centers, and in many other public places.
Parents are role models for children. Attitudes and behaviors of children
and adolescents are strongly influenced by their parents, and one of the
most important factors that influence a child to start smoking is having
a parent who smokes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, more than 6 million youths are exposed to second-hand smoke
daily, and more than 10 million youths aged 12-18 live in a household
with at least one smoker. Thousands of people die from illnesses related
to exposure to second-hand smoke each year, and second-hand smoke is responsible
for deaths due to lung cancer in non- smokers. There is no safe level
of exposure to tobacco smoke.
What can parents do to protect their children from environmental tobacco
smoke? If you smoke, quit! It is difficult, and it may take several attempts
until you are successful. If your partner smokes, ask them to get assistance
to quit. Try to eliminate all tobacco smoke from your home, for your health
and the health of your children and family. Protect your children. Stopping
smoking and eliminating tobacco smoke from your home and environment is
one of the best gifts that you can give to your children, family, and
friends.
There are many resources in Allegheny County and the surrounding counties to help parents stop smoking. Many programs offer free counseling, free classes, and free nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT), such as the patch or gum. In Allegheny County, there is an ongoing incentive program for pregnant women who smoke.
