Pamphlet review: 10 Best Reasons Not to Smoke While You're Pregnant

A summary of the 10 reasons
1. You can do it, many women stop smoking before pregnancy or after getting pregnant.
2. If you quit, your baby does too!  The chemicals from cigarettes get to the baby.  Stopping allows more oxygen and nutrients to get to your baby.
3. You'll have a healthier pregnancy.  Women who smoke have higher incidence of miscarriage, bleeding and premature birth.
4. Your pregnancy may be easier.  Quitting means you can breathe easier, will have more energy, and better taste.
5. You baby will be a healthier weight.  If you quite your baby will more likely be healthy.
6. Risk of SIDS will be lower.  Not smoking during pregnancy decreases the risk of SIDS after the baby is born, and of stillborn birth.
7. Your breast milk will be free of chemicals.  Chemicals from cigarettes in breast milk can cause restlessness, vomiting, diarrhea.  It can also reduce the supply of breast milk.
8. You'll protect your baby from second hand smoke.  Quitting means your baby will be less likely to get sick, less likely to have colds, bronchitis, ear infections and asthma.
9. You'll live to see your child grow.  Quitting will reduce your own risk of cancer, hear disease and other illnesses.
10. Tips for quitting: throw out cigarettes, pick a day, drink more water, keep your hands busy.  If you can't stop, cut back.  Think of your baby.  Remember 1-800-NOBUTTS.

Tobacco and your Body

 ON the left you see healthy lungs, and on the right smoker's lungs.  The good thing is the lungs start to clean themselves when you stop smoking. Tobacco contains more than 1000 chemicals.  This include nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide carcinogens and poisons.  Some of the poisons are highlighted in this picture.

 You can imagine what effect these things have on your body.  Nicotine causes addiction.  The cardiovascular system is greatly effected.  This can include blood clots, pneumonia, heart attack stroke, chest pain, high blood pressure, etc  Also the addiction results in withdrawal symptoms.  Risk of cancer is increased, most often in the lungs but also in the esophagus pancreas and other organs.  The reproductive system is also effected.  However, as mentioned above, quitting tobacco can result in almost immediate benefits.