Quit Smoking Before Pregnancy
In the United States more than 20 percent of women smoke and many of these women smoke while they are pregnant. Smoking can harm a woman’s health and smoking during pregnancy can lead to pregnancy complications and serious health problems in newborns. The more a pregnant woman smokes, the greater the risk to her baby. However, if a woman stops smoking by the end of her first trimester of pregnancy, she is no more likely to have a low birth weight baby than a woman who never smoked. Even stopping during the third trimester can still improve the baby’s growth.
The problems with smoking during pregnancy include:
-
Risks to the baby
- Low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams) carries a range of grave health risks for children. Babies who were undernourished in the womb face a greatly increased risk of dying during their early months and years. Those who survive have impaired immune function and increased risk of disease; they are likely to remain undernourished, with reduced muscle strength, throughout their lives, and suffer a higher incidence of diabetes and heart disease in later life. Children born underweight also tend to have a lower IQ and cognitive disabilities, affecting their performance in school and their job opportunities as adults.
- Premature birth – less than 37 weeks of gestation.
- Miscarriage and stillbirths
- Learning and behaviour problems – associated with premature birth and low birth weight.
- Increased incidence of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)
- May undergo withdrawal-like symptoms. The babies appear to be more jittery and difficult to soothe than babies of non-smokers
- Suffer from more lower-respiratory illnesses (such as bronchitis and pneumonia) and ear infections than other babies.
- Some kinds of birth defects, particularly cleft lip and cleft palate (abnormalities of the mouth that need to be corrected by surgery).
Pregnancy complications
- Placental problems - including placenta previa (low-lying placenta that covers part or all of the opening of the uterus) and placental abruption (in which the placenta peels away, partially or almost completely, from the uterine wall before delivery). Both can result in heavy bleeding during delivery that can endanger mother and baby.
- Premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) (when the sac inside the uterus that holds the baby breaks before labor begins). When this occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy it often results in the birth of a premature baby.
Smoking also affects the reproduction before a woman becomes pregnant. Smoker can have more trouble conceiving than non-smokers with fertility being 30% lower. However, fertility returns to normal after a woman stops smoking. Men also have fertility problems associated with smoking. They have:
- reduced ejaculation volume,
- a reduced sperm count,
- the sperm motility is impaired,
- increased sperm shape abnormalities and
- the sperm are less able to penetrate the ovum.
- The sperm related problems can take three months to correct. It is suggested therefore that males quit smoking at least three months before trying to conceive.
The good news is that the problems in pregnancy can be overcome by quitting smoking. This is best undertaken before the pregnancy – but stopping at any stage during the pregnancy will have a benefit for the mother and baby. If you are pregnant or are wanting to become pregnant then now is the time to stop. Join Growerz and get the assistance and support you need to successfully quit – for the sake of a healthy baby.
References
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Smoking Cessation during Pregnancy. ACOG Educational Bulletin, number 260, September 2000.
- Law, K.L., et al. Smoking During Pregnancy and Newborn Neurobehavior. Pediatrics, volume 111, number 6, June 2003, pages 1318-1323.
- Martin, J.A., et al. Births: Final Data for 2002. National Vital Statistics Reports, volume 52, number 10, December 17, 2003.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General—2004. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health, Atlanta Georgia, May 2004.
- Wang, X., et al. Maternal Cigarette Smoking, Metabolic Gene Polymorphism, and Infant Birth Weight. Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 287, number 2, January 9, 2002, pages 195-202.
Comments (0) 21.07.2007. 00:56
Blog Plans
My first post on this blog provided a broad outline of the natural approach to healthy living. These are the elements I consider essential to real health and vitality. Over time on the blog I will fill in the detail of these points - there is a lot more to each of them. My hope is that my blog readers will take up the suggestions and begin to make positive changes to their life and improve their health.
Health isn't just about not being ill - its about real vitality and wellness and enjoying life. The What is Health? tutorial provides a lot more information on this topic.
Our health is our most vital possession and without it everything else becomes relatively unimportant. Unfortunately we often don't appreciate the importance of our health until we become ill. I would like my blog readers to value their health and therefore be willing to take the steps necessary to improve their health. The health improvement path is not always easy. There will probably be difficulties to challenge your resolve - but the feelings of energy, vitality and enjoyment are definitely worth the effort. This is especially the case when you consider that the alternative is declining health and illness.
I often speak to people who are trying to do the right things as far as their health is concerned - unfortunately they have the wrong or mis-information and are actually doing themselves harm. The approach I use is naturopathic. I believe that if you provide the body with the right circumstances then that it will repair and heal itself - that is, become healthy. How to set up the right circumstances is the information provided on this site and in this blog.
Comments (0) 20.07.2007. 22:45
Healthy Living Guidelines
There are many essential physical and psychological factors that will assist in the process of staying or becoming healthy. The most important of these have been listed in this article. It may for many people seem to be a very challenging list. If you are one of these people then I suggest that you make a start. Choose one thing that you can change about the way that you currently live. Make that change and stick to it and then make another change and so forth. If you find the list daunting then choose something relatively easy from the list to do - for example, increase the amount of filtered water that you drink in one day. This is adding something to how you live rather than taking something away. Adding in is easier than taking something away. When it comes to your diet try adding in eating one piece of fruit per day and do this for a week and then add in two pieces of fruit per day. Again you are adding in and not taking anything away. You may also be able to add in something for you mind or physical exercise. You will have made a good start.
Attempting to change many things at the one time is very difficult and will make it difficult to succeed but you can make changes over many months - just keep the goal of improved health in your mind. Improved health is what you are working towards and having this in mind will help to keep you going when times get tough and you feel like giving up.
- Eating a good diet and ensuring that you are obtaining your vitamins and minerals is one necessary step to good health. This means eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and taking a good vitamin and mineral supplement. If you have not been eating a good diet it is probable that you have a build up of toxins in your body. Toxins are one of the main reasons for ill health and need to be removed. You find out how to safely remove the toxins with Safe Colon Cleansing:Your Good Health Guide. Volume 2 also contains hundreds of recipes to help you eat a good diet.
- Do not smoke. Tobacco has many harmful effects. If you currently smoke try to give it up. Join Growerz for the support and assistance that you need. Take a tour and see how Growerz can help you.
- Do not drink alcohol as even in small amounts it can have a detrimental effect on the body.
- Breath deeply - but in pure and not polluted air. Air Purifiers are able to assist if you live in an environment with poor air quality. They can also assist if you have a problem with allegens such as dust mites and pollens.
- Drink plenty of fresh pure water.
- Sunshine. Our body needs sunshine to function well and to make vitamin D. We should not get so much that we burn as this damages the skin and can lead to skin cancers. How much you need will depend upon where you live and the nature of your skin - about 10 minutes per day with about 60% skin exposure is a rough guideline.
- Good posture and bones. We need to make sure that the structure that holds us together and upright is in good alignment. There are many who consider this to be the foundation of our health and that if our bony structure is right then the nerve and energy impulses that pass to the rest of the body will help to keep it in good order. if you have any difficulties with this you need to see a practitioner such as a chiropractor or osteopath or massage therapist.
- Take medical drugs only if essential. Excessive use of medicinal drugs (obtained either on prescription or over the counter at a pharmacists or supermarket), can lead to serious physical ill-health. Avoid taking drugs unless there is a defined medical problem. Many pharmaceutical drugs have an adverse effect on our vitamins and minerals. Seek alternative approaches (such as naturopathy and herbalism) to managing health problems.
- Take regular exercise. In order to maintain good physical health is necessary to take regular exercise. This needs to include three elements, aerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility. Walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, sporting activities, weights, yoga and so forth are all suitable. Choose the forms of exercise that suit your lifestyle and personal preferences. If you haven't exercised for a while you need to start very gradually. You may also need to check with your health professional if you have had heart problems or surgery.
- Take regular mental exercise. The mind affects the body in many ways and mental health is necessary to achieve physical health. Mental activities such as reading, writing, the creative arts, a hobby, learning something new, doing a different project all stimulate the mind. Watching excessive amount of TV, computer games or videos does not allow you to exercise your creativity or mental capacity.
- Have and follow a goal in life. It is important that you have a goal or purpose in life that you are interested in and genuinely wish to achieve. This may be via your job or home life or by being a member of a local or national society or some other means. Without an interest in wanting to achieve something, life often becomes dull and meaningless.
- Develop and maintain a range of positive, supportive relationships.
- Maintain a wide range of interests and activities. Life can be divided into certain areas such as your own personal interests, your family, work and groups or societies that you belong to. Try to have interests and activities that relate to each of these areas.
- Manage the levels of stress that are in your life. Learn how to relax and stay calm and have a practical and positive attitude to your abilities and life circumstances.
Remember to enjoy life. Even when you are unwell or under stress there is much enjoyment to be had.
There are many activities that you can do to help you in the process of staying or becoming healthy. The list provided above is a good starting point. You will find many of the things that you need for healthy living on this site - check out the navigation on the left.
Try making a plan for yourself and adding in things to your life before you try taking things away. However if you smoke make it a priority to quit. Not smoking is one of the greatest health improvements that you can make. Growerz will assist you to become smoke free.
Comments (0) 20.07.2007. 20:54
