Quit now, or don't even start smoking

Babies exposed to cigarette smoke before birth are often born early and small meaning they spend time away from mum in the neonatal unit, needing help to breathe and not able to breastfeed as soon as they should.

WHY are so many women in Tairawhiti continuing to smoke when the harmful effects of smoking on mother and baby are so well known?

Are the effects well known? Maybe not, so let’s take another look.

To start at the very beginning, women have more trouble getting pregnant if they smoke. Male and female smokers are about twice as likely to be infertile compared to nonsmokers, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

When a smoker finally does get pregnant, she is four times more likely to lose the baby by miscarriage.

The unexpected loss of a pregnancy is a tragic event at any stage. Miscarriages typically occur in the first three months of pregnancy. On rare occasions, they can occur after 20 weeks of gestation. This is called a stillbirth.

Smoking raises the likelihood of both early miscarriage and stillbirth, with the dangerous chemicals in cigarettes, including nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar, often to blame.

Problems with the placenta, the “lifeline” structure that forms during pregnancy to provide the fetus with nutrients and oxygen, are also complications from smoking that can lead to a miscarriage or stillbirth.

The baby will be exposed to the poisons in the cigarette smoke through the placenta from the very beginning so fetal development is often slow and seldom normal.

If the baby survives the pregnancy it is more likely to be born early and small. Some think this is a good thing — small baby = easy birth, right?

It is not quite as simple as that. The baby is more likely to have trouble coping with the labour and may need to be born by Caesarean section. Being born early and small often means spending time away from mum in the neonatal unit, needing help to breathe and not able to breastfeed as soon as baby should.

Low birth weight can also lead to other health problems and disabilities. Although advances in medical care have reduced the number of deaths as a result of low birth weight, it’s a serious condition that can result in developmental delay, cerebral palsy, hearing or vision ailments, and in extreme cases, even the death of the newborn.

When a baby is born too early, there are numerous health risks. These can include visual and hearing impairments, mental disability, learning and behavioural problems and complications that could result in death.

Smoking during pregnancy also raises the risk of the baby being born with birth defects. Congenital heart defects, problems with the structure of the heart, are the most common type of problem. Other health issues, including cleft lip and cleft palate, have also been linked to smoking while pregnant.

Once home, the baby is more likely to become ill or even die in the first year of life. Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) is much more common in babies who are exposed to cigarette smoke in pregnancy or at home.

Glue ear, chest infections and hospital admissions are all more common when mum or other family members smoke. These are all big costs to the family both in time apart and the financial cost of having a sick or hospitalised child and needing to take time off work.

What about mum? All kinds of cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease are just some of the risks of smoking. Living with others who smoke will affect the health of all the family.

Why are so many women in Tairawhiti continuing to smoke in pregnancy? Last year almost 43 percent of Maori women and 11 percent of non-Maori women who had their babies in our maternity unit were current smokers.

If smoking stops in very early pregnancy, the baby has a good chance of being born at the right time and at normal weight. What can we do, as a community, that will make a difference and help all babies to grow and develop into healthy children and adults?

World Smokefree DayCelebrated globally on May 31, this year’s World Smokefree Day is about encouraging and supporting friends, families and whanau across Aotearoa New Zealand to quit, creating environments where our children are free from exposure to tobacco.

“Research shows children with parents who smoke are three times more likely to become smokers,” says Aporina Chapman, Tobacco Control Advisor Hauora Tairawhiti and member of Taki Tahi Toa Mano (Tairawhiti Smokefree Coalition).

“We know that parents, whether they are smokers or not, feel very strongly about not exposing children to smoking, Children see their parents smoke and this can sometimes have a strong effect on what they perceive as normal,” says Aporina.

Whanau and caregivers can make positive changes to the environment children are growing up in, even if they do smoke. Talking to their children about smoking and establishing smokefree rules like not smoking around children, keeping their whare and car smokefree are a fantastic start and a step in the right direction to protecting their children”.

World Smokefree Day is a perfect opportunity to work together to achieve a Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025, a major focus of Taki Tahi Toa Mano.

“Join with smokers and non-smokers alike, all around the world, and be a role model for the wellbeing of your family in 2016 — it’s about whanau.”