If you are a smoker, then this article is for you!

There are certain traits which make us human. Our ability to talk, our ability to choose and our ability to procrastinate. How many times have you told yourself today, you will stop smoking? How many times have you truly followed through with it? Well, being pregnant may be your greatest motivation yet to finally kick your smoking habit to the curb.

The health risks and disadvantages of smoking are well documented and there are many tips and tricks about how to quit smoking available, so we won’t dwell on that, however, what we will say is that smoking affects your unborn child and your baby in so many ways and at Cuddlers we want to encourage you to finally give up on a habit which can risk your child’s and your health. One of the main health concerns when smoking while pregnant is that all toxic substances are passed to your baby through the placenta and umbilical cord, and later through the breast milk.

When you smoke you inhale carbon monoxide and nicotine which in turn reduces the oxygen in the blood and contracts the blood vessels in the umbilical cord and placenta. This causes your baby to get less oxygen and less nutrients. Smoking while pregnant can result in Premature birth and babies who are born early to mother’s who smoke have a lower birth weight and smaller body organs than babies born to non-smoking mothers. There is also a link between smoking and cot death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) according to U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Tobacco also causes allergies and long-term infections which are harmful to your child according to babycenter.com. If Tabaco is not healthy for you, a fully grown adult, how could it possibly be healthy for children who are still developing?

The question is no longer if, rather it is when you will stop smoking. When you are ready to start looking for help, visit www.smokenders.co.za or talk to your general practitioner about quitting once and for all. You won’t only be helping yourself, you will be helping your child too.