Smoking: Problems With Pregnancy

When you're pregnant, everything you put in your body can affect your pregnancy. If you smoke, your fetus is exposed to chemicals such as nicotine and carbon monoxide.

If you breathe secondhand smoke during pregnancy, your baby is more likely to have health problems.

Smoking during pregnancy increases the chance of:

• Placenta problems. (The placenta is an organ that gives the fetus oxygen and nutrients and gets rid of waste.)
• Preterm birth. The baby is born too soon.
• Damage to developing lungs and brain.
• Abnormal bleeding during pregnancy and delivery.
• Miscarriage or stillbirth.
• Birth defects, such as a cleft lip.
• Death early in life, mainly because of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• A baby with a low birth weight.

Experts recommend avoiding vaping during pregnancy. Vaping can expose you to nicotine and other chemicals that are not safe and studies link vaping during pregnancy to problems like early birth and low birth weight. More research is needed to understand all the risks.

If you smoke or vape, try to quit. If you can't quit, cut back as much as you can. Talk to your doctor or midwife about quit programs and medicines. These can increase your chances of quitting for good.