No Smoking Please! Did you know that the smoke of one cigarette
contains the poisonous gases of approximately 4,000 chemicals,
some of which could kill or injure your baby and increase your
risk of miscarriage? Among the many poisonous gases in cigarette
smoke are nicotine (an addictive drug known to narrow blood
vessels), carbon monoxide (an oxygen robber), benzene (a
potential carcinogen), ammonia, and formaldehyde. The harmful
effects of cigarette smoke on you and your baby increase with
each cigarette smoked each day. Some of the detrimental side
effects of smoking during pregnancy include: - Smoking robs
babies of nourishment. Many studies have shown that infants of
mothers who smoke have lower birth weights. The poisonous
nicotine narrows uterine blood vessels, thus reducing blood flow
to the baby in the womb. Less blood flow means less nourishment
and, therefore, less growth for your - Smoking robs baby of
oxygen. Besides restricting blood flow to the womb, maternal
cigarette smoking and breathing seco