Smoking & Your Baby

Smoking can make it harder for you to get pregnant. And, if you get pregnant, continuing to smoke while you’re pregnant can cause serious harm to your baby’s health. Even if you smoked during a past pregnancy and had a healthy baby, every pregnancy is different. Quitting smoking at any time during pregnancy—especially early on―can give your baby a healthier start in life.

After your baby is born, exposing your baby to secondhand smoke also causes harm to your child’s health and development. Understand the risks of continuing to smoke before and after your baby is born. Quitting will give you and your baby a brighter and healthier future.  

Smoking While Pregnant

Smoking can cause complications during your pregnancy, such as:

• Miscarriage: an unexpected loss of the baby.
• Ectopic pregnancy: when the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus (where the baby usually develops). The result is usually a miscarriage.
• Placental abruption: when the placenta (this provides oxygen and nutrients to the baby) separates too early from the uterus. This can cause bleeding in the mother. It can also lower or stop the baby’s supply of oxygen and food.
• Placenta previa: when the placenta covers the cervix (the lower end and opening of the uterus). This can cause severe bleeding during pregnancy and delivery.
• Preeclampsia: when the mother experiences high blood pressure and swollen feet, legs, and hands. This can have severe complications for both the mother and baby, like placental abruption and having a premature baby.
• Preterm birth: when the baby is born too early. Babies who survive early delivery can have problems breathing, digestion issues, and bleeding in their brains. As the child gets older, he or she may experience developmental delays (when a baby or child is behind in language, thinking, or movement skills) and not do as well in school.