Any pregnant woman knows that smoking is a great big no – no during pregnancy as it can cause a number of complications for the mother and her child and even result in birth defects in the baby. Here are two more reasons to avoid tobacco during pregnancy:
Smoking during pregnancy is seen to cause behavioral problems for the child – a child exposed to smoking before being born is more likely to have problems such as aggressive and rule breaking behavior and other problems by the time he or she turns 4.
Doctors warn that exposure to the nicotine as well as the carbon monoxide while in the womb may be responsible.
Smoking could cause other mental health issues for the baby; namely increasing the chances of having ADHD. It was seen that smoking causes biochemical variations in the dopamine pathway – a neurotransmitter that plays a role in memory, problem solving, and attention, thereby upping ADHD risk.
And it isn’t just the mothers; dads need to kick the butt too. Apart from being responsible for poorer sperm count and difficulties in helping conceive, second hand smoke from the father could cause problems too – low birth weight, and increased risk of complications could happen even due to second hand smoke.