The Scoop On Smoking from ACSH: what every teen should know about tobacco
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Related effects
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small baby sizethe bottom lineEven if a smoker's baby is not born prematurely, the baby may be smaller than usual because smoking slows down the baby's growth in the uterus. Having a small baby doesn't sound like an important problem, but it actually is. Small size at birth (low birth weight) increases the likelihood that a baby will have health problems. Smoking accounts for 20 to 30% of all cases in which babies are abnormally small when they are born. (1) The longer a woman smokes during pregnancy, the greater the effect on the baby's size. Smoking during the last few months of pregnancy is particularly harmful because the baby needs to grow rapidly during this time. Sources 1. Andres RL, Day MC. Perinatal complications associated with maternal tobacco use. Seminars in Neonatology 2000;5:231-241.
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The American Council on Science and Health is a consumer eduction consortium with a board of 350 physicians, scientists, and policy advisors. |
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