Early prenatal care is extremely important to ensure a healthy pregnancy, as well as a healthy newborn baby. Proper nutrition, exercise, and regular visits to your physician are essential components of a successful pregnancy. It is also necessary that an expectant mother avoid using alcohol, tobacco products, or illicit drugs throughout the course of her pregnancy. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs can have seriously damaging effects on a pregnant woman and her child.

Additional Information:

Effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol
Effects of prenatal exposure to tobacco
Effects of prenatal exposure to illicit drugs
Links for additional information

Effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol:

Alcohol crosses the placenta to the baby. It can accumulate in the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby before the birth, and can cause problems in pregnancy such as bleeding, miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is implicated in a wide range of birth defects and developmental disabilities, including mental retardation, physical abnormalities, and visual and auditory impairments.

Drinking alcohol while pregnant has been associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth, shorter gestation periods, as well as reduced birth size and weight. Long-term effects include Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD).

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is characterized by facial abnormalities, growth deficiencies, and psychomotor disorders. Facial abnormalities include narrow eye slits, a flat and long upper lip, an underdeveloped midface, and a flattened nose bridge. A significant proportion of children with FAS have impaired vision and/or hearing. Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD) include growth retardation and various cognitive deficits.

There is no safe level of drinking alcohol during pregnancy and consuming no alcohol is the safest approach.

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Effects of prenatal exposure to tobacco:

Carbon monoxide and nicotine in tobacco both reach the baby very easily through the placenta. Both of these can cause problems with the baby's growth and development before birth. Carbon monoxide will reduce the amount of oxygen available in the mother's blood, which can affect the development and size of the baby. Nicotine reduces the amount of oxygen available to the baby and may affect growth and development before birth. Smoking during pregnancy creates a more serious risk of spontaneous abortion and a greater threat to the survival and health of newborns and children than using cocaine during pregnancy.

Besides spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) deaths, smoking AND exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy increases the risk of ectopic pregnancies, brain damage during gestation, growth retardation and low birth weight, mental retardation, childhood leukemia, and other learning and developmental problems.

Tobacco use is responsible each year for 19,000 to 141,000 spontaneous abortions, 1,900 to 4,800 infant deaths caused by perinatal or pre-birth disorders, and 1,200 to 2,200 deaths from SIDS. Fetal mortality rates are 35% higher among pregnant women who smoke than among nonsmokers. Currently, about 11 percent of pregnant women in the U.S. smoke during pregnancy. If all pregnant women in the U.S. stopped smoking, there would be an estimated 10 percent reduction in infant deaths, according to the U.S. Public Health Service.

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Effects of prenatal exposure to illicit drugs:

Cocaine: Using cocaine while pregnant can have devastating effects on a fetus. Cocaine increases the heart rate in both the mother and baby and the supply of oxygen and blood to the baby is reduced. Because of the reduced supply the baby is more likely to be small and grow slowly. Several cases of bleeding in the brain have been reported in babies whose mothers were dependent on cocaine. A number of fetal abnormalities have been reported concerning the use of cocaine during pregnancy. If cocaine is used close to birth the baby may be born excessively active and appear distressed and restless. Cocaine use during pregnancy has also been associated with an increased risk of stillbirth, preterm delivery, smaller-than-normal head size and low birthweight. It also may cause an unborn baby to die or to have a stroke, which can result in irreversible brain damage. Cocaine use also may cause the placenta to pull away from the wall of the uterus before labor begins. This condition, placental abruption, can lead to extensive bleeding and can be fatal for both the mother and her baby. Use of cocaine during pregnancy has also been linked to other developmental problems.

Heroin: Heroin will reach the baby through the placenta and the baby's growth and development may be affected. If you are not eating or sleeping properly the baby may be further affected. Heroin use can result in low birth weight babies who can experience complications such as infections and breathing problems in the first weeks of life. Injecting heroin increases the risk of becoming infected with HIV (the virus which causes AIDS), which may then be passed onto the baby. Infection can result from sharing needles and other injecting equipment or having unsafe sex with someone who is infected.

Amphetamines (Speed): Effects of using speed while pregnant are similar to those effects of using cocaine and/or heroin. Using amphetamines during pregnancy can affect the baby's development before birth and has been linked with bleeding, early labor and miscarriage. Amphetamines cause the heart rate of the mother and baby to increase. Amphetamines also cause the baby to get less oxygen, which means that he/she may grow slowly and be smaller at birth. When amphetamines are injected there are risks associated with using or sharing injecting equipment. It is possible to become infected with HIV (the virus which causes AIDS) and this virus can be passed on to the baby.

Marijuana: Use of marijuana while pregnant can cause a baby to have a low birth weight, a shortened gestational period, as well as neonatal neurobiological abnormalities. Women who smoke marijuana often smoke it with tobacco and therefore there will be additional risks to the baby from tobacco smoke. THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is the active ingredient in marijuana and does cross the placenta. It is stored in the amniotic fluid that the baby lives in prior to birth. It is possible that marijuana use in pregnancy is associated with premature labor and small babies, with all the associated dangers of low birth weight including infections and breathing problems.

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For more information about early prenatal care and how to have a healthy pregnancy, visit the Web sites listed below:
    • American Cancer Society
    • American Lung Association
    • Baby Center: Your Pregnancy
    • Make Way for Baby
    • March of Dimes
    • Pennsylvania Department of Health
    • Planned Parenthood
    • Tobacco Free Kids
    • Woman Care at Bedford Memorial Hospital
    • Web MD

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