Smoking & Pregnancy

Smoking during pregnancy can cause serious problems including complications during labour, increased risk of miscarriage, premature birth and even stillbirth.

Many women quit smoking during pregnancy and go on to stay smokefree after their baby is born. If you are still trying to conceive then going smokefree could also improve your fertility.

For expert advice on the health risks of smoking when you are pregnant, and advice on ways to go smokefree, please call the NHS Pregnancy Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 9 169.

Health risks for your baby

Smoking is harmful throughout your pregnancy and stopping at any stage will be good for your baby. The most damaging effects of smoking happen in months four to nine. This means that, if you stop smoking within the first three months of your pregnancy, your baby is still likely to be a healthy weight.

When you smoke, over 4,000 chemicals go into your body. One of these is a poisonous gas called carbon monoxide which gets into your bloodstream and cuts down the oxygen reaching your baby. For every cigarette you smoke, the oxygen supplied to your baby is disrupted for 15 seconds and your baby experiences reduced blood flow for 15 minutes.

Health risks to your baby if you smoke whilst you are pregnant include:

• Lower birth weight and weakness.
• Slower growth of your baby.
• Higher chance of cot death.
• Damage to airways which could cause breathing problems or asthma.

Health risks for Children

Health risks to your children if they are growing up in a home where one or more parents smoke include:

• Colds, coughs and bugs.
• Asthma attacks or chest infections.
• Lung cancer when they are adults.
• Meningitis.
• 'Glue ear' and partial deafness.

Quit with the help of free NHS support services

This is the perfect time to quit, and did you know that you are up to four times more likely to successfully go smokefree if you use one of the free NHS support services and use medication like patches or gum to help cope with your cravings?

It is usually fine for pregnant women to use Nicotine Replacement Therapy products, although we recommend that you check with your doctor first. You can also get stop smoking medicines on prescription so it doesn't have to cost you a fortune to quit.

To find out more about the free NHS support services that are available and for advice on what would suit you best, please contact the NHS Pregnancy Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 9 169.

Get your partner, family and friends to support you

If your family or friends smoke near you, you will breathe in harmful gases and chemicals. Your partner, family and friends can all help you by making sure that they don't smoke when you are around. You could even ask them to go smokefree too!