Through the whole pregnancy, do not take a single cigarette or a single drink of alcohol, and do not let others smoke indoors at home either

Smoking in pregnancy raises the chance the baby is born early, is born too small, or has a cleft lip or palate, and doubles the risk of abnormal bleeding in pregnancy and at delivery. When the pregnant person smokes, or the baby breathes smoke after birth, the risk of sudden infant death is higher. Quitting is still useful whenever you do it.

Cost

No money spent, and you save on tobacco and alcohol. The hard part is getting people who live with you to quit along with you

Benefit

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s framing: smoking in pregnancy can leave a baby “born too small, even if full term” and “may lead to preterm birth.” It “doubles the risk of abnormal bleeding during pregnancy and delivery.” It raises the risk of birth defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate. It also “can damage a baby’s developing lungs and brain,” and “the damage can last into childhood.” Infants of mothers who smoked in pregnancy, and infants exposed to smoke after birth, have a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Official advice is to “quit smoking before getting pregnant if you can, but quitting is still helpful if you are already pregnant” and “it is never too late to quit.” On alcohol, the CDC says there is “no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy,” and no stage of pregnancy when drinking is safe. The baby’s brain develops through the whole pregnancy, so alcohol contact at any time may cause harm

Notes

Secondhand smoke when someone else smokes indoors counts the same for the fetus. So people who live with you should not smoke indoors either. Alcohol is the same: no known safe amount; the simplest approach in pregnancy is not to drink at all. The account of tobacco and alcohol for adults themselves is in Section 2

Sources · 2

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking During Pregnancy. cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/pregna…
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Alcohol Use During Pregnancy. cdc.gov/alcohol-pregnancy/about/index.html