Awareness of Smoking during Pregnancy - Essay Example

Awareness of Smoking during Pregnancy Introduction. Smoking during pregnancy is very harmful for both the mother and the unborn child. It is important for pregnant mothers to quit smoking during pregnancy because smoking leads to an unsuccessful pregnancy outcome (Ergin, Hassoy and Tanik 2010). By quitting smoking during pregnancy, mothers will have the energy to go through the pregnancy and will also reduce their risk of future health problem. According to The National Partnership to Help Pregnant Smokers Quit, the inhaled chemicals from tobacco are passed to the baby since they enter to the mother’s bloodstream and move to the unborn baby. When the pregnant mother inhales chemicals such as nicotine and carbon monoxide, they pass into the placenta. The placenta connects the mother to the baby and carries oxygen and nutrients to the baby. Therefore when the mother smokes the poisons, she prevents the unborn baby from getting nutrients and oxygen which are essential to ensure proper growth of the baby. Smoking during pregnancy has been associated with poverty, low education, psychological illness and poor support from those around the pregnant mother (Lumley, Chamberlain and Downswell 2009). Why smoking is not good during pregnancy. A mother who smokes cigarettes increases the carbon monoxide that is in the bloodstream. This reduces the oxygen that is being availed to the baby. According to the American Lung Association, it estimates that 20% of low-birth weight babies, 10% of infant deaths and 14% of premature deliveries are caused by smoking by the mothers during pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy leads to placenta complications where by the placenta moves and covers the cervix. This prevents the cervix from opening and hence delivery of the baby. This condition is known as placenta Previa. Mothers who smoke have a high risk of developing this complication during their pregnancy period. This condition leads to abnormal fetal growth (Harper, Odibo and MacOnes 2010). Statistical data on health complication to the baby in United Kingdom. Great Britain is one of the countries in the United Kingdom which has recorded a high number of cigarette smokers. According to a report by Tobacco Advisory Group in Royal college, in 1948 the percentage of women smokers in Great Britain was 41%.This rose to 45% in the 1960’s.Statistics in England showed that in the year 2006, 32% of all expectant mothers smoked just before or during pregnancy. Women who are socially disadvantaged are likely to smoke during pregnancy. Pregnant women who smoke pose a threat to the health of their children. In United Kingdom maternal smoking has led to high rate of infant mortality. It has also led to birth of low weight babies. It is estimated that in United Kingdom 14,000 to 19,000 babies are born with low weight. Children born by mothers who smoke are also likely to suffer from musculoskeletal defects, heart defects and also defects of the central nervous system. However, with increase in awareness of the effects of smoking by women to their children, infant mortality has begun to fall. The statistical data below shows the decrease in infant mortality rate in United Kingdom due to the increase in the awareness of the effects of smoking to the baby. Support for women to quit smoking. Women find it very hard to quit smoking because some feel that smoking makes them feel calm and relaxed. However, there are many ways in which women can be helped to quit smoking. One of the ways in which women can be relieved from smoking is by getting involved in community organizations. These organizations educate women on the effects that smoking has on women and also advise them on the mechanisms they can use to quit smoking. Women involvement in community organizations can transform smokers to be non-smokers (Secker-walker, Flynn and Solomon 2000). Involvement of health professionals and health organizations can also help women smokers to quit smoking. When women are advised on the dangers of smoking, they quit smoking and also tell their friends on the importance of quitting smoking. Health organizations play a key role in counselling women smokers. This can be done through telephone counselling .Also by use of mass media to campaign against smoking has brought a positive effect to the women smokers since they quit smoking after getting informed (NICE guideline 2008).Women smokers can also be motivated to quit smoking. Motivation helps them to build confidence in themselves that quitting smoking is easy. Through motivation, women smokers can reduce the number of cigarettes that they do take per day. This gradual change of the number of cigarettes that they smoke can help a lot because eventually they fully quit smoking (Sciamanna, Hoch and Duke 2000). Cognitive behavior therapy is also a method to help quit smoking. Smokers believe that cigarettes help them to relieve stress and take life easily. This therapy helps the smoker to identify issues that cause stress and help the smoker to coup with them without smoking. The therapist aims at changing the belief that the smoker holds about relieving stress via smoking. After getting involved in the cognitive behavior therapy, the smoker learns how to deal with stress without using unhealthy means such as smoking which cause health complications to their bodies (Patten, Martin and Myers 1998). Medications can also be used to help quit smoking. Some of the approved medications for women smokers by the Food and Drug Administration are nicotine gum and nicotine patches. These medications should be taken with caution especially for people who suffer serious arrhythmias and those who suffer from serious angina pectoris. This is because nicotine can cause adverse cardiovascular effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure (Corelli and Hudmon 2002). Conclusion. Smoking not only leads to infant mortality but has also claimed lives of adults who smoke. Smoking brings complications to one’s health. It causes diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseses.People who suffer from other vital diseases such as HIV and stroke should quit smoking since smoking increases the risk of suffering from these diseases. People should be enlightened on the effects of smoking so as to reduce the incidences of deaths caused by smoking. References A report by the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians (March 2010) Passive smoking and children. Retrieved from http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/ American Lung Association. Retrieved from http://www.lungusa.org/ Corelli.L, & Hudmon, S (2002) Medication for smoking cessation.Retrived form http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071687/ Ergin, I., Hassoy, H., Tanik, F. A., & Aslan, G. (2010). Maternal age, education level and migration: Socioeconomic determinants for smoking during pregnancy in a field study from Turkey. BMC Public Health, 10, p. 325 Harper, L. M., Odibo, A. O., MacOnes, G. A., Crane, J. P., & Cahill, A. G. (2010). Effect of placenta Previa on fetal growth. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, p.203. Lumley, J., Chamberlain, C., Dowswell, T., Oliver, S., Oakley, L., & Watson, L. (2009). Interventions for promoting smoking cessation during pregnancy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Online), p.CD001055 NICE guidelines. (2008). Smoking cessation services in primary care , pharmacies , local authorities and workplaces , particularly for manual working groups , pregnant women and hard to reach communities,p.8-13 Patten, C. A., Martin, J. E., Myers, M. G., Calfas, K. J., & Williams, C. D. (1998). Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for smokers with histories of alcohol dependence and depression. Journal of studies on alcohol, 59, p.327–335. Sciamanna, C. N., Hoch, J. S., Duke, G. C., Fogle, M. N., & Ford, D. E. (2000). Comparison of five measures of motivation to quit smoking among a sample of hospitalized smokers. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 15, p.16–23. Secker-Walker, R. H., Flynn, B. S., Solomon, L. J., Skelly, J. M., Dorwaldt, A. L., & Ashikaga, T. (2000). Helping women quit smoking: results of a community intervention program. American Journal of Public Health, 90, p.940–946. The National Partnership to Help Pregnant Smokers Quit, Retrieved from http://www.helppregnantsmokersquit.org/ Read More