Working as General Practitioner How You Stop smoking in pregnant women Essay

Working as General Practitioner How You Stop smoking in pregnant women ( health Promotion cessation of smoking During Pregnency) - Essay Example The use of tobacco and oral contraceptives often leads to stroke, venous thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism. There is also a growing awareness of the smoking that occurs during pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy has been associated with growth retardation of the fetus, increased infant death rate and sudden infant death syndrome. Not only does smoking by-products pass through the placental barrier but they also are transmitted to the baby in breast milk. Breast milk production is also often decreased when mom smokes. Statistics show that mothers who smoke are less likely to breast feed. [1] Therefore both mothers and babies miss out on the importance of this process. Infants who have been exposed to tobacco have an increased risk of low birth weight and death at the time of birth. Low birth weight babies can also be very prone to a number of disorders including learning disabilities, diminished attention span, and increased risk of medical problems. [1] There are also a number of birth defects that are associated with smoking during pregnancy. Those include cleft lip/palate, clubfoot and limb defects. Children’s risks continue with increased childhood infection, bronchitis, negative impact on the overall respiratory health and lung development. It causes a reduction in pulmonary function and development which affects ability to exercise later in life. Last, the fact that mother smokes increases the risk that the child will be a smoker. [1] Haslam and Draper (2001) published a white paper on the need to stop smoking in pregnancy. The Secretaries of State for Health published in 1998 a paper that was reviewed by Haslam. The target set at that time was to reduce the amount of smokers during pregnancy by 15% by the year of 2010. At the time semi-structured interviews were held with pregnant women who smoke in one practice. There were 40 participants. The aim was to understand what motivates someone who is pregnant to smoke. The age range of the