The health risks from smoking
Scientific evidence of the health risks posed by smoking go back to the 1950s. Figures from the US government show that 28% of males 18 years old and above and 23% of females in the same age bracket were into the habit in the mid-1990s. The percentages were even higher in 1964, when the US surgeon general first issued an official warning that smoking was hazardous to one's health.

Following that formal warning, many reports were released on the link between cigarettes and tobacco to heart diseases, lung diseases, and cancers of the mouth and other tissues. However, the habit persisted, with young smokers doing so as an expression of rebellion and strong drive to be independent.

For adults, smoking marked an addiction to nicotine - the key factor that made smoking a pleasurable and addictive experience. This led to another warning from the surgeon general in 1988, which put addiction to nicotine on the same level as cocaine and heroin.

The danger in smoking comes from the chemical substances released either as a gas or as a particulate. Nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and most especially carbon monoxide are gaseous emissions from cigarette smoke that threaten to poison the body.

Nicotine is one of several hazardous particulates emitted from smoking. These particulates damage the cilia - the little hairs lining the lungs that help transport mucus out of the lungs, and all pollutants accumulated. When the cilia malfunction, pollutants remain in the lungs and the likelihood of influenza and bronchitis, emphysema and other diseases increases.

The possibility that smokers die from cancer and heart disease is twice that of their non-smoking counterparts. Individuals who smoke also have lungs that become less efficient with age much faster than those who don't. Smoking has been cited as the cause of over 400,000 deaths in the US every year.

Government agencies, scientists and health officials have also established that passive smoking, or second-hand smoke, also has ill effects. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has reported that over 4,000 chemicals are generated by second-hand smoke, with more than 50 of those believed to be cancer-causing agents.

In 1975, the Centers for Disease Control released a report citing such a danger, noting that toxic chemicals stay in the air and are inhaled by unsuspecting victims. Thus, the concern over smoking as a private choice by individuals expanded into a public-health issue.

Passive smoking was cited as a cancer-causing agent by the US Environmental Protection agency in 1993. For pregnant women, smoking raises the chances that their baby will be underweight or that they end up with a miscarriage. Children less than a year old are twice as likely to have lung infections if their mothers smoke compared to counterparts whose mothers do not practice the habit. Individuals with asthma, allergies or other respiratory ailments were also warned, as exposure can worsen their conditions.

Some smokers gradually quit or smoked less, while nonsmokers became the focus of more protection, as government worked on policies and legislation to curb the habit. As early as 1964, the US signed into law a requirement that health warnings must be integrated into all cigarette advertising and packaging. Policies were also implemented to designate schools, offices and other public places as smoke-free buildings.

The US Food and Drug Administration established that cigarettes served as a channel for the highly-addictive nicotine, and came out with guidelines to deter smoking by individuals below 18 years old in 1996.

In the 1990s, class action suits started to bombard state and federal courts, claiming that cigarette makers employed deceptive marketing tactics to keep consumers from knowing that nicotine was addictive and worked on levels of the particulate in cigarettes to keep smokers hooked on their product.

More recent suits against the industry charge manufacturers of also misleading consumers into thinking that "lights" and similar products were healthier alternatives to regular cigarettes. These more recent cases later led to the multi-billion dollar settlement between the US government and industry in the late 1990s.

These lawsuits and the consistency of health lobbyists and persuasive government programs have helped pull down US smoking rates on a consistent basis over the last four decades, with government figures showing per capita rates at 22.5% and experts forecasting the rates to continue declining in the future.

The Dangers of Smoking While Pregnant
As adults, we know very well the danger of smoking. As an adult smoker, we had made a conscious choice that we would like to smoke despite the health risk we obviously face.

As an adult non-smoker who inhale second hand smoke, we can at least make the choice of moving away from the dangerous smoke or at least tell the smoker off. A baby, unfortunately do not have any choice at all! He or she may be subjected to cigarette smoke and not be able to do a single thing about it. What is worse is that he or she is at an age when they are most vulnerable to cigarette smoke!

Surveys show that many mothers smoke during their pregnancy. These mothers contend that it does not affect their baby at all. In most instances, these are the mothers that do not care for their unborn child, because if they do they would know that smoking poses great danger during pregnancy. They would know that it is currently one of the major causes of infant deaths in society today.

Cigarette smoke is full of chemicals and some studies even state it has more than 2,500 chemicals. We discussed some of these chemicals previously. Some chemicals like tar, carbon monoxide, and nicotine were considered as the most dangerous substance for the fetus. It has long been proven how these chemicals can greatly affect the development of the fetus inside the mother’s womb.

The Smoking Snag
Mothers who smoke while pregnant run a risk of ectopic pregnancy. This is especially viable when the mother is a heavy smoker during the first trimester of her pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancy refers to the state wherein the embryo is embedded outside the uterus, which is contrary to what normal pregnancy should be. Usually, it is embedded in the fallopian tube. In this manner, the fetus has to be removed because this kind of pregnancy will never survive. This fetus will never survive outside of the uterus where a fetus gets all the nourishment and protection that it needs. Prolonging this condition will only risk the mother’s life.

Smoking also increases the probability that the mother will develop complications in the placenta. Reports show that placental problems are actually happening in about 1% of pregnancies. The most common problem is “placenta previa” where the placenta is connected very low in the uterus and is almost the cervix.

Another problem is the deterioration of fetal growth. Smoking during pregnancy results in low infant birth weight. For so many years now, reports show that there had been significant difference between babies with smoking mothers than those who have non-smoking mothers.

Greater risks are imposed on babies who relatively weigh less than the normal babies. They may acquire certain diseases like cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and the worst – death.

There are also reports on how smoking increases the probabilities of birth defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

Moreover, babies born with mothers who are smokers have higher incidences of sudden infant death syndrome. If ever these infants survive, they may still incur diseases like asthma, behavioral problems, or learning disabilities.

The Post-pregnancy Woes
For babies with mothers who smoke regularly, problems still lurk within their environment. This is especially true to mothers who smoke even when they are breastfeeding their babies.

Studies have revealed that nicotine can be passed on to the baby through breastfeeding. There had been experiments that proved the presence of nicotine in the babies system through urine testing. It later showed that higher percentage of nicotine was found on babies who breastfeed to smoking mothers.

Most experts contend that the problem lies within the mother’s urge to get back to smoking right after they gave birth. They contend that it is safe now because the baby was born already. They still insist that they, in fact, stopped smoking during their pregnancy.

The concluding scenario here is that when the mother continues to smoke during the formative years of her child, chances are she is already shaping a child that will most likely be a smoker themselves. That is, if the child can endure the dangers smoking can do with his or her health.

So, what’s the point here? The fact that the mother does not care for her own health is one thing. But the fact that she puts greater risk on her baby because of her vice is another thing, and that it is the most saddening part.

Babies should be given the right to live a decent, normal, and healthy life. So, for mother’s out there, please bear in mind that aside from the long range dangers associated with smoking your babies should not suffer. Let’s take care of them simply by not smoking.