How Smoking During Pregnancy Affects The Unborn Baby

When Doctors advice individuals to quit smoking and they decline and continue, they can be pardoned but when they advice a pregnant mother against smoking during pregnancy and  she ignores. The is now inconsiderable.  For the fact that the nutrients in her body; including the oxygen she breathes in is not for her alone but to be shared rationally between her body's cells and that of the unborn baby that is inside her womb.

Smoking during pregnancy tend to endanger the health of the baby and when the baby surfaces into the world; he/she comes along with one or more difficulties.  One of these difficulties include a condition known as RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME (R.D.S). Common in infants, it is also called Hyalin membrane distress. It is a disease of the new born resulting from the abnormal production of Surfactant due to immaturity of the lungs. Such infants are known for there inadequate gas exchange in the lungs and low lung compliance.

During  fetal life, i think it will be nice if I assume that you know that the lungs remain collapsed and the fetus gains its oxygen and other nutrients from the diffusion exchange that occurs at the placenta. Immediately after birth, the first cry the baby makes opens up every air passage ways and some ducts in the heart and also gets the lungs inflated and working.  This substance, called Sulfactants, found inside the aveolus sac in the lungs, it keeps the lungs from collapsing back to its previous position.

 

This substance,  lining  the walls of the lungs' aveolus is secreted by type 2 pneumocyte cells and mainly made up of phospholipids. It has the property of lowering surface tension. Inadequate surfactant production causes air sacs to collapse on expiration and greatly increases the energy required for breathing. The development of interstitial oedema makes the lung even less compliant. This leads to hypoxia and retention of carbon dioxide. Right-to-left shunting may be severe occurs through collapsed lung (intrapulmonary) or, if pulmonary hypertension is severe, across the ductus arteriosus and the foramen ovale (extrapulmonary).
So where does smoking come in here? Studies shows that smoking during pregnancy causes the inadequacy of the infant's surfactant on the walls of the aveolus inside the lungs. Smoking during pregnancy can also cause Atelectasis, which is the production of abnormal surfactants.

Okay, over to you dear reader. The fact that the habit of smoking is very hard to stop, what advice will you give to the potential mothers who are still smokers to help them stop smoking. You can save a life by putting it down on the comment box.