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Smoking Among Adults: Reproductive Health
- Smoking harms many aspects
and every phase of reproduction. Despite having greater increased knowledge
of the adverse health effects of smoking during pregnancy, many pregnant
women and girls continue to smoke (estimates range from 12% to 22%). It is
estimated that only 18% to 25% quit smoking once they become pregnant. (p.
527)
- Women who smoke are at an
increased risk for infertility. Studies have shown that smoking makes it
more difficult for women to become pregnant (p. 534)
- Research also has shown
that smoking during pregnancy causes health problems for both mothers and
babies, such as pregnancy complications, premature birth, low-birth-weight
infants, stillbirth, and infant death. Low birth weight is a leading cause
of infant deaths, resulting in more than 300,000 deaths annually in the
United States. (p. 555, Ventura
et al. 2000)
- Once pregnant, women who
smoke are about twice as likely to experience complications such as placenta
previa, a condition where the placenta grows too close to the opening of the
uterus. This condition frequently leads to delivery by a Caesarean section.
(p. 551)
- Pregnant women who smoke
also are more likely to have placental abruption, where the placenta
prematurely separates from the wall of the uterus. This can lead to preterm
delivery, stillbirth, or early infant death. Estimates for risk of placental
abruption among smokers range from 1.4 to 2.4 times that of nonsmokers. (p.
554)
- Pregnant smokers also are
at a higher risk for premature rupture of membranes before labor begins.
This makes it more likely that a smoker will carry her baby for a shorter
than normal gestation period. (p. 554)
- Risk for having a baby in
the smallest 5% to 10% of birth weights is as high as 2.5 times greater for
pregnant smokers. (p. 574)
- For reasons that are
currently unknown, smokers are less likely to have preeclampsia, a condition
that results in high blood pressure and an excess of protein in the urine.
(p. 554)
Citation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Health
Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative
health impacts on people at all stages of life. It harms unborn babies,
infants, children, adolescents, adults, and seniors.
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