Smoking for Two

A Dangerous Pursuit
By Felicia Hodges

We've all heard the grim facts about cigarette smoking – how it's the main cause of lung cancer and that it is also linked to cancers of the mouth, lip, throat and windpipe. Or that it's the major cause of preventable deaths in the United States and that people who smoke die an average of five to eight years earlier than people who don't.

We've also heard about how addictive the chemicals inside tobacco can be. Ask any smoker who has ever tried unsuccessfully to quit, and she'll probably tell you just how tough it is to shake the craving for nicotine.

Even though the health risks for the unborn child – including low birth-weight, respiratory problems and learning disabilities – are well documented, the smoker who has just found out she is pregnant still has to figure out whether or not the next nine months of her life will be littered with empty cigarette packs.

"People have to understand that smoking is an addiction," says smoker Rhoda Crumpler, who quit smoking cold turkey as soon as she found out she was pregnant with her son, Zuri, in 1992. "The chemicals in those things make it almost impossible for people who have been smoking for years to just up and walk away." Rhoda says the reason she quit was because of the health risks smoking posed to her unborn son.

The Dangers of Smoking
According to most anyone in the medical and health fields, Rhoda did one of the best things she could have done for Zuri. Studies have shown that smoking during pregnancy can increase the baby's risk of developing meningitis, asthma, oral cleft, stomach difficulties, sleep problems and attention, motor control and perception disorders. According to the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators, a recent Danish study even linked smoking during pregnancy to fetal brain damage that may promote criminal behavior later in life.

But even after reading the long list of things smoking can do to the baby, some women just can't quit.

"My older son was born in 1968," says 52-year-old Head Start teaching assistant Audrey Allen, who had been smoking for a few years when she found out she was pregnant. "They talked about smoking and the dangers, but not like they do now."

Audrey says that she cut down but did not quit smoking during her other four pregnancies. She never had morning sickness or any other physical difficulties when she was pregnant, but she did have two miscarriages and none of her children weighed more than 7 pounds at birth.

"I knew it wasn't the best thing for the baby, but I never quit. I think if more information about the effects would have been available, I probably would have at least tried to quit."

Kicking the Habit
Although the exact number of women who smoke during pregnancy has not been accurately documented, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the rates have fallen since the early '80s. The CDC credits advertising campaigns – such as the television commercial that ran in the early '90s showing a fetus with a cigarette as the mother puffed away – for helping to get the word about the dangers out to the public.

"It's a difficult habit to kick, but it is possible," says pulmonary specialist Dr. Phillip Greenblatt. "Because the risks to both mother and child far outweigh anything else, it is a difficulty that most mothers at least try to endure."

Greenblatt says that women who are determined to quit, at least for the duration of the pregnancy, are usually able to quit if they focus on the baby. "Since most mothers – whether they planned for the pregnancy or not – want to do what is best for their babies, the dangers that they expose those babies to each time they light up is often enough to help them quit."

For those who may need a bit more help than good old-fashioned will power, Greenblatt spoke about a recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in September of 1999 that showed that no significant effects on the fetus developed in women who used nicotine replacement therapy like the nicotine patch during pregnancy to control their cravings.

"But who's to say what 'significant' is?" Greenblatt says. "A woman should still consult with her obstetrician before taking any drug, especially one as powerful as nicotine."

Rhoda, who started smoking again four months after her son was born, says that she lit up again when she returned to work. She smokes now only at work, outside of her house and when Zuri is not around.

"I hate it when I go to a person's house now and it is all clogged with cigarette smoke," she says. "People – especially parents – should vent out their homes if they smoke. Be conscious of areas where others smoke and keep your child out of them," she says.

She also says that parents who don't smoke shouldn't point fingers at those who do. "Believe me, we don't love our children any less than folks who don't smoke."

"Believe me, we don't love our children any less than folks who don't smoke."

Smoking Facts Cutting down or stopping smoking during pregnancy decreases the risks for the developing baby. If a woman stops early in pregnancy, the risks for disease are about the same as for women who are non-smokers. Kids exposed to passive or second-hand smoke are more likely to have chronic coughs, bronchitis and ear infections. Children born to smoking parents have less efficient lung function and are more likely to develop respiratory illnesses later in life.

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