The Dangers Of Smoking Cigarettes While Pregnant

Title:
The Dangers of Smoking Cigarettes While Pregnant

Word Count:
667

Summary:
The sad fact is cigarette smoking is part of many of our lives, regardless of whether we smoke or not. Unfortunately, this includes unborn babies as well. Unfortunately, surveys show that many mothers still smoke cigarettes during their pregnancy...


Keywords:
cigarette smoking while pregnant,smoking cigarettes during pregnancy,ectopic pregnancy,cigarette smoking during pregnancy,cigarette smoking mothers,chemicals in cigarettes,cigarettes,effects of smoking cigarettes,harmful effects of smoking,cigarette,


Article Body:
Copyright 2006 Adam Waxler

The sad fact is cigarette smoking is part of many of our lives, regardless of whether we smoke or not. Unfortunately, this includes unborn babies as well.

Surveys show that many mothers still smoke cigarettes during their pregnancy. Most likely these women are unaware of how harmful cigarette smoking truly is on their unborn baby and are unaware that smoking cigarettes during pregnancy is one of the major causes of infant deaths in the society today.

Basically, cigarette smoke alone is full of chemicals, some studies even state it has more than 2,500 chemicals. Some chemicals like tar, carbon monoxide, and nicotine are considered the most dangerous substance for the fetus. It has long been proven how these chemicals can greatly affect the development of the fetus inside the mother’s womb.

First of all, mothers who smoke while pregnant run a risk of ectopic pregnancy. This is especially viable when the mother is a heavy smoker during the first trimester of her pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancy refers to the state wherein the embryo is embedded outside the uterus, which is contrary to what normal pregnancy should be. Usually, it is embedded in the fallopian tube. In this manner, the fetus has to be removed because this kind of pregnancy will never survive. This fetus will never survive outside of the uterus where a fetus gets all the nourishment and protection that it needs. Prolonging this condition will only risk the mother’s life.

Also, smoking cigarettes during pregnancy increases the probability that the mother will develop complications in the placenta. Reports show that placental problems are actually happening in about 1% of pregnancies. The most common problem is “placenta previa” where the placenta is connected very low in the uterus and is almost at the cervix.

Another problem with smoking cigarettes during pregnancy is the deterioration of fetal growth. The fact is cigarette smoking during pregnancy results in low infant birth weight. For many years now reports have shown that there have been significant differences between babies with mothers who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy and those who have non-cigarette smoking mothers.

Unfortunately, greater risks are imposed on babies who weigh less than the normal babies. They may acquire certain diseases like cerebral palsy, mental retardation, or worse – death.

There are also reports on how cigarette smoking during pregnancy increases the probabilities of birth defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

Moreover, babies born with mothers who are cigarette smokers have higher incidences of sudden infant death syndrome. If ever these infants survive, they may still incur diseases like asthma, behavioral problems, or learning disabilities.

Then there are the post-pregnancy woes…

For babies with mothers who smoke regularly, problems still lurk within their environment. This is especially true to mothers who smoke even when they are breastfeeding their babies.

Studies have revealed that nicotine can be passed on to the baby through breastfeeding. There have been experiments that prove the presence of nicotine in the babies system through urine testing. It later showed that there is a higher percentage of nicotine found on babies who breastfeed to cigarette smoking mothers.

Most experts contend that the problem lies within the mother’s urge to get back to smoking cigarettes right after she gives birth.

Unfortunately, when the mother continues to smoke during the formative years of her child life, chances are she is already shaping a child that will most likely be a cigarette smoker themselves.

So, what’s the point here? The fact that the mother does not care for her own health is one thing. But the fact that she puts greater risk on her baby because of her vice is another thing.

Babies should be given the right to live a decent, normal, and healthy life. So, for the “moms-to-be” out there, please keep in mind that your babies should not be forced to suffer from the long range dangers associated with cigarette smoking. Let’s take care of them by not smoking cigarettes.

BONUS : Title:
The Ghost in Her Womb: The Phenomenon of False Pregnancy

Word Count:
775

Summary:
The phenomenon of false pregnancy, also known as pseudocyesis, is currently at the center of a murder trial. Lisa Montgomery stands accused of murdering an expectant mother in order to get the baby in her womb. Her defense attorneys insist that the former is not guilty by reason of insanity, and say that she is suffering from pseudocyesis.


Keywords:
pregnancy


Article Body:
Today in Kansas City, Missouri a woman is currently on trial for kidnapping resulting in death. At the center of this trial is a medical condition that the defense insists that Lisa Montgomery suffers from called pseudocyesis. They claim that she is mentally unbalanced, suffering from a variety of psychological problems stemming from her childhood, which was marked by sexual abuse and frequent moves. Pseudocyesis, also known as false pregnancy or pseudopregnancy, is a condition wherein a woman believes she is pregnant even though there is no actual fetus in her womb. Experts are unsure as to why women experiencing false pregnancy sometimes exhibit true physical signs of pregnancy. Women who have false pregnancies will claim to have, or actually exhibit true pregnancy symptoms such as amenorrhea (stoppage of menstruation), morning sickness, cravings, widening of the abdomen, enlargement of the breasts and quickening (sensation of a child moving in the womb).

False pregnancy is a rare condition that is nonetheless a serious emotional and psychological condition in women. No single cause for the condition has been universally accepted by mental health professionals, although there are three popular theories. The first theory attributes the false pregnancy to emotional conflict, wherein an intense desire to become pregnant, or an intense fear of becoming pregnant, can create internal conflicts and changes in the endocrine system, which may explain some of the symptoms of false pregnancy. The second theory concerns wish-fulfillment, and it holds that if a women desires pregnancy badly enough she may interpret minor changes in her body as signs of pregnancy. The third leading theory is the depression theory, which maintains that chemical changes in the nervous system associated with some depressive disorders could trigger the symptoms of false pregnancy. Research has also linked false pregnancy to the pituitary gland (the center of hormone production during pregnancy) and an unusually high level of hormones. There is a possibility that the emotional and psychological shifts that lead a woman to falsely believe she is expecting is due to hormone imbalance sparked by stress and anxiety.

According to police, Lisa Montgomery came to the victim's house under the pretext of purchasing one of the rat terrier puppies that Bobbie Jo Stinnett put up for sale online. The accused allegedly then killed expectant mother Bobbie Jo Stinnett by strangulation and carved the eight month baby from the latter's womb using a kitchen knife. She then proceeded to take the baby, asking her husband to pick them up at a local diner and drive them home and telling him that she had given birth at a nearby birthing center. The next day she tried to pass the baby off as her own, with the couple going out on the town, displaying the child to friends and acquaintances. Later that day, Lisa Montgomery was arrested following a massive manhunt for the suspect after the mutilated body of Bobbie Jo Stinnett was found in the kitchen of her home by her mother. Police tracked down Lisa Montgomery and the baby the next day through e-mails Montgomery had sent Stinnett about buying a dog. A search of her car yielded several pieces of evidence including a bloody rope used to strangle Stinnett and a knife used in removing the baby from her womb. The rope and knife are among more than 100 pieces of physical evidence prosecutors will present at Montgomery's trial along with the testimonies of over 100 possible witnesses. Authorities believe that Lisa Montgomery wanted a baby so badly that she was willing to kill to get one.

Experts for the defense say that her tendency to escape into fantasy stemmed from her chaotic childhood, and that she will do anything to protect this fantasy world from collapsing. So despite the fact that she had consented to undergo a tubal ligation in 1990, she may choose not to acknowledge the fact that she can no longer carry a child, especially since she was pressured into the surgery by her mother and then-husband Carl Bowman. She insisted that she was pregnant at least five times since the surgery, refusing to listen to family members who constantly reminded her that it was not possible. This is apparently common in those suffering from pseudocyesis or false pregnancy, and doctors are now disputing their claims using technology such as ultrasound machines or other imaging techniques. Counseling may also be helpful for women who have this condition, because false pregnancy is often indicative of other psychological problems.

In the end, whether or not Lisa Montgomery is suffering from false pregnancy, the saddest part about this case is that a little girl is forced to grow up without her mother.