Smoking & Drinking - How Can They Impact You In Pregnancy?

Pregnancy is a time when you have to be at your vigilant best even as you go about your normal life. If you happen to be a smoker and enjoy a drink once in a while, then it may be time to change these habits. Ideally, one should let go of these habits as soon as the couple starts trying for a baby, as how you treat your body in the preconception stage will have a great bearing on how your body adjusts to pregnancy and the aftermath of childbirth. Let us find out the dangers of smoking and drinking during pregnancy.

1. Alcohol and Your Baby: While you may be thinking that a drink or two of wine in a week may not do any harm to your foetus, this is actually a misnomer. One should steer clear of even a sip as the alcohol usually ends up passing through your placenta and right into your growing foetus.
2. Alcohol Break Down: When the alcohol gets passed through your system and into the baby, there is a definite health hazard to the foetus. This is due to the fact that the body tends to break down alcohol in a much slower manner, than it would break down any other food or beverage. And the risk is that much more heightened in case of the growing foetus, because the tiny bodies are not equipped to handle the breaking down process properly. This may lead to a rise of the blood alcohol level of the foetus, keeping it at that level even after the mother's blood alcohol level has been restored to normal.
3. Retardation and Other Related Ailments: When the blood alcohol level of the baby remains high, it can lead to a variety of problems that can go from mild to severe. Retardation, heart ailments and more can be born from this issue. Also, this can lead to deformed facial features as well as behavioural problems like aggression.
4. Smoking and Low Birth Weight: When you smoke during your pregnancy, it doubles your risk of birthing a baby whose weight is significantly lower than the acceptable standard and what is considered normal.
5. Smoking and Other Complications: Also, smoking during pregnancy increases the chances of having an ectopic pregnancy, which can lead to the loss of the foetus. Further, you can also end up having a premature baby, if you smoke during pregnancy, as this will lead to the burst of your water before the actual labour begins. Finally, smoking during pregnancy can give rise to complications in the placenta, which will result in a separation of the placenta from the uterine wall, much before the delivery actually happens.