India ranks third in world
tobacco consumption , next only to China and USA. While men are the major consumers of tobacco, sizeable proportion of women consume tobacco in the reproductive phase of their lives either inthe
form of chewing tobaco or smoking.
Bidi is the commonest form of tobacco consumed by women in India.
There is
increased risk of spontaneous abortion, premature labour, increased perinatal mortality, abruptio placenta, increased incidence of low birth weight babies, larger placentae and also long term effects on growth and development of such children is noticed. Though the components of tobacco like tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, nitrosamines, etc. are known carcinogens and mutagens, there is no clear relationship between tobacco
usage by mother and congenital malformations in the baby.
The adverse effects of tobacco in
pregnancy are related to the dose rather than the duration of tobacco usage by mother. The specific effects on the
foetus include
decreased responsiveness of fetal cardiovascular system to the stresses of labour, decreased uteroplacental blood flow and lower APGAR score of the foetus
More abstracts about the Effects of smoking on Pregnancy