These remarkable images of a fetus holding his head shows us that smoking can harm the baby`s development. The ultrasound images show us that babies in the stomachs of mothers who smoke touch their face and lips more often than babies of non-smokers. As fetuses develop, they rarely touch their face but this 4D ultrasound showed that cigarettes can slow down the development of the baby’s central nervous system.
Doctors claim that these shocking images can encourage women to quit smoking, at least while they’re pregnant. They clearly show the way cigarettes can harm the development of the unborn baby. Doctors have been trying for a long time to influence on pregnant women to quit smoking, because smoking can increase the risk of premature birth and can cause breathing problems even death in the worst case.
Researchers today shows how smoking effects on babies and they want to use these images to encourage mothers not to harm their unborn babies.
Smoking while pregnant will lower the amount of available oxygen to your unborn baby. It increases the baby’s heart rate and risk of premature birth or baby born with lower weight. It also increase the chances of miscarriage. It will increase the risk of developing respiratory problems to your baby and birth defects. Increases risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
On the 4D ultrasound images you can see 2 fetuses, each one in the 32 week. The fetus above is from a mother who smokes and the other is from a non-smoker mother. The fetus carried by a mother who smokes constantly touches his face and mouth, which is an indication that his development is delayed.
M.D Nadia Raysland used these images to monitor the small movements in the womb. She monitored 20 mothers, from which 4 were smokers. After studying their images from weeks 21, 28, 32, and 36, she noticed that fetuses from the women that smoked moved their face a lot more than fetuses of non-smoking women.
“This needs to be further researched and we also need to research the connection between a mother’s stress and smoking”, says Nadia.
Take a look at these images and decide whether your cigarettes are worth more than your baby’s life!
Read more: What Happens When You Quit Smoking