Smoking is a harmful addiction, its consequences are said to be all the more worse when resorted to during pregnancy.

Doctors strictly advice pregnant women to stay off smoking during pregnancy as it has very harmful effects on the unborn fetus.

Some of the major ill effects of smoking during pregnancy are:

Low Birth Weight: Women who smoke during pregnancy tend to have babies with very low birth weight. These babies are most susceptible to ill health, weakness and many diseases.

Ectopic Pregnancies: Smoking hampers the fertilization process causing the egg to fertilize outside the womb causing one to have an abortion.

Miscarriages: This is also a very sad consequence of smoking during pregnancy. A miscarriage in turn has serious psychological consequences that can be very traumatizing. Also, abnormal placental implantation, vaginal bleeding etc are some of the harmful results of smoking.

Hampered Mental Development: Women who smoke a lot during pregnancy tend to give birth to children who would suffer from short attention span, hyperactivity, mental abnormalities etc.

Childhood Cancer: Researches conducted have showed that women who smoke frequently tend to have children who are highly susceptible to cancer.

Impaired Thyroid Function: Smoking during pregnancy has been associated with impaired thyroid function in Pregnant Mothers. The thyroid is responsible for hormone production and an imbalance in hormone production further leads to miscarriages, premature birth and low birth weights.

Therefore, keeping these points in mind a pregnant mother has to very carefully decide about the pros and cons of smoking and try every bit to quit smoking.