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How to Stop Smoking When you are Pregnant?

Smoking cigarettes is arguably the worst thing a woman can do when she is pregnant. The four thousand plus chemicals can harm unborn babies in many irreversible ways. First and foremost, smoking increases the risk that a child will be born early. How risky is it? Smokers who refuse to give up the habit and smoke through the pregnancy have a ten percent chance of giving birth to a premature baby. That's about thirty times greater than the average non-smoker.

There are several reasons for this. The most obvious one is that carbon monoxide and nicotine make it harder for the baby to breath. This dangerous duo actually works together by narrowing blood vessels and delivering carbon monoxide to unborn babies in place of oxygen.

A lack of oxygen during pregnancy has been proven to adversely affect a baby's growth and development. For this reason, infant mortality rates for smokers are nearly twice as high. Children of pregnant smokers are also far more likely to have comparably low IQs and to demonstrate learning and behavioural problems in school.

How can you quit? Knowing the risks smoking will have on your baby is incentive enough for most pregnant smokers. Of course, that doesn't make quitting any easier. All smokers are chemically dependent and need nicotine to function normally. When the nicotine is suddenly removed, smokers will experience withdrawal symptoms.

These symptoms are not easy to deal with, but studies have shown that nicotine replacement therapy, often in the form of gums or patches, can make it easier for smokers to quit. We also suggest that pregnant smokers join a support group. These groups not only help women kick the habit, but they also provide mothering and parenting advice for mothers-to-be. Consult the internet for support groups in your area.