Drugs and Pregnancy
When a woman becomes pregnant it is extremely important for her to take some proper precautions such as eating healthy foods, taking a muti- vitamin, and most importantly staying away from drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. It is extremely important for an expectant mother to stay away from alcohol in the early weeks of her pregnancy. In the mothers body alcohol chemically breaks down to a cell-damaging compound that the fetus readily absorbes. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a birth defect that is cause by heavy drinking during early pregnancy. Several characteristics of this disease include a small skull, abnormal facial features, heart defects, impeded growth and mental retardation.
Women who smoke during pregnancy run the risk of miscarriage and early labor. The most crucial danger is delayed fetal growth. Nicotine supresses the appetite of the mother at a time where she should be steadily gaining weight. Smoking also reduces the ability of the lungs to absorb oxygen, and if the fetus us deprived of oxygen and nourishment it may not grow as much or as fast as it should.
Originally posted on February 4, 2008 @ 5:05 am
