Smoking and Pregnancy

Smoking is bad for you, your partner and especially for your baby. The truth is that every cigarette you smoke harms your baby.

The NHS can help: the Smokefree Pregnancy Support DVD will show you how. Watch the preview here to find out how other pregnant women have been successful with NHS support. Then order your free DVD to find out more.

If you smoke, it means that your baby shares chemicals from the smoke you breathe. It also means that the dangerous chemicals in other people's smoke - secondhand smoke - can affect your baby.

• Your baby gets absolutely everything from you.
• Nutrients and oxygen are delivered to your baby through your blood by the placenta and umbilical cord.
• Smoking while you're pregnant exposes your baby to dangerous toxins in tobacco smoke.
• These toxins can also damage the placenta, which is vital for your baby's development and successful birth.
• When you smoke you inhale over 4,000 chemicals from the cigarette.
• One of these is a dangerous chemical called carbon monoxide, which gets into your bloodstream.
• This restricts the oxygen that's essential for your baby's healthy growth and development, and because cigarettes restrict their oxygen supply, their tiny heart has to beat harder every time you smoke.