Smoking is one of the most harmful and dangerous female habits, especially if a woman can not cope with it during pregnancy or lactation. If the mother is breastfeeding and still smokes, she must realize that it is not only harmful to her own health, but also to the baby's immature body. Some lactating women rely on the experience of friends and acquaintances, claiming that their children are completely healthy and develop normally, despite the harmful addiction of their mothers. Doctors categorically disagree with such statements, and this is a logical explanation.
The fact is that most of the effects of smoking during lactation are not immediately apparent, as tobacco smoke poisons the children's body gradually. Some of them, for example, lag in physical or mental indices or a chronic decrease in immunity, appear after several years, when the child begins to go to kindergarten. If a woman can not independently cope with tobacco dependence, the best way is to seek the help of specialists, but it must be done at the stage of pregnancy planning, so that the child does not suffer from frivolity and weakness of his mother.
Content of material
- 1 How does smoking affect the composition of milk?
- 2 Features of lactation in women smokers
- 3 Harm to the child
- 4 If a woman can not quit smoking
- 5 When should I give up lactation?
- 5.1 Video - Smoking and alcohol during lactation
How does smoking affect the composition of milk?
All harmful substances contained in a cigarette penetrate into breast milk and enter the baby's body. Particularly high probability of nicotine poisoning in the first 30 minutes after smoking a cigar or a cigarette( here you can also include smoking hookah), since the concentration of dangerous compounds in milk reaches a maximum during this period. If a woman feeds the baby after 2-3 hours, the harm will be slightly less, but a sufficient proportion of poisonous substances( about 30-40%) will still fall into the children's body.
Most cigarettes of well-known manufacturers include more than 70 very dangerous substances for babies, which are used in the manufacture of household chemicals, cleaning products for toilet and sanitary ware, batteries.
These include:
- nicotine;
- resinous substances;
- ammonia;
- cadmium;
- arsenic;
- stearic and acetic acid;
- methanol;
- carbon monoxide, etc.
In the manufacture of paper in which a cigarette filter is placed, hazardous ingredients are also used, for example, technical solvent and toxic paint. Milk with such a composition is assimilated by 70-80%, and a large proportion of dangerous elements enter the systemic bloodstream of the baby and accumulate in the tissues of the internal organs, causing intoxication of the body.
Important! Women who smoke a day more than one pack of cigarettes, it is better to give up breastfeeding. Large doses of nicotine and resins can lead to the poisoning of a newborn and his death from chronic intoxication.
Features of lactation in women smokers
Nicotine negatively affects the production of prolactin, a peptide hormone, synthesized by acidophilic cells of the anterior lobe of the adenoma( pituitary gland).Prolactin is responsible for the production of breast milk and its amount, corresponding to the needs of the child. If the hormone is produced in insufficient quantity, the volume of milk decreases, the child constantly experiences a feeling of hunger, therefore becomes capricious, sluggish, often crying. His sleep is disturbed, skin pale. The chemical analysis of urine during this period allows to reveal a deficiency of useful elements: potassium, magnesium, calcium, ascorbic acid, iodine, iron and other minerals and vitamins.
Smoking women with difficulties with lactation can appear even in the hospital. Even if the mother is able to keep breastfeeding, it is unlikely that it will last longer than 4-6 months. Milk itself also changes its chemical composition and taste: it becomes bitter, an unpleasant chemical taste appears. Most often, the kids themselves refuse such milk in the first weeks of life, and they are brought to feed by artificial milk substitutes, which both in composition and in degree of digestion are much inferior to mother's milk.
Important! If a nursing woman smokes more than 4-5 cigarettes a day, the composition of breast milk changes for the worse. It gets fewer antibodies needed to protect the child's body from bacteria and viruses, vitamins, essential minerals, essential amino acids. The amount of digestive enzymes is also decreasing, so children receiving breast milk from a smoking mother are more likely to suffer from intestinal colic and other digestive disorders.
Harm to the child
In addition to problems with digestion, children who smoke mothers suffer from other disorders. Carbon monoxide entering the body of the baby, poisons the respiratory system, negatively affects the work of nerve receptors and the transmission of nerve impulses, can cause chronic hypoxia. Lack of oxygen contributes to the disruption of brain cells and the development of cardiovascular pathologies. Most often, these children are diagnosed with various types of arrhythmia that arise from the abnormal rhythm of electrical impulses( shocks) that cause the heart to contract. Infants receiving milk from a smoking mother are also at risk of developing other serious diseases of the brain and heart, including:
- ischemia of myocardial and pericardial tissues( internal muscle layer and outer shell of the heart);
- chronic heart failure;
- acquired heart and vascular malformations;
- coronary artery atherosclerosis;
- inflammation in the heart muscle;
- hydrocephalus( hydrocephalus);
- microinsult of the brain.
If a woman continues to smoke during pregnancy and subsequent breastfeeding, this can affect the child's well-being. Such children are usually moody, crying, have difficulty falling asleep, can often wake up during night and daytime sleep. Almost 80% of such children are lagged behind in physical( underweight, inadequate growth of the child's age, etc.) and intellectual development. In the future, such children can badly study at school, they have poorly developed memory, they are hard at giving elementary tasks.
Children of women smokers are at risk for possible development of serious diseases of various body systems listed in the table below.
System of organs | Probability of occurrence | Probability of occurrence |
---|---|---|
Vision organs | Nearsightedness or farsightedness, the risk of cataract, glaucoma and other severe visual disorders increases during adolescence | 29% |
Respiratory system | Frequent bronchitis and inflammatory processes of pulmonary tissue and alveolarstroke( pneumonia), tracheitis, pharyngitis, sore throats, acute respiratory viral infections | 82% |
Musculoskeletal device | Deforming lesions of the joint(mainly after 10-14 years) | 17% |
Hearing organs | Bradycardia, chronic inflammation of the middle ear and Eustachian tube | 13% |
Immune system | Allergic reactions, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis | 84% |
Genitourinary system | Chronic inflammationkidneys( pyelonephritis and glomerulonephritis), enuresis | 65% |
Note! The probability that a child will inherit the habit of his mother in the future is very high, so a woman should not only abandon a bad habit, but also protect the child from smoking society as much as possible. If one of the relatives suffers from tobacco dependence, it is necessary to strictly forbid them to smoke in the presence of the child, since "passive smoking" has the same harm to the children's body, as well as the use of milk from the smoking mother.
If a woman can not quit smoking
If a woman can not cope with her dependence and does not want to refuse breastfeeding, the main task is to minimize harmful consequences. To do this, you can use the following tips:
- can not feed the baby for 1.5-2 hours after smoking a cigarette;
- for faster removal of toxins from the body should be observed abundant drinking regimen( drink more pure water, compotes from dried fruits, fruit and vegetable juices);
- is best after smoking;
- do not smoke in the presence of the baby.
To ensure sufficient supply of nutrients and maintain lactation at the right level, a woman must eat right. In the diet every day you need to include sour-milk products, vegetable salads with the addition of nuts and different kinds of greens, fruits and fruit juices, fresh, quality meat. To prevent deficiency of useful elements in breast milk, it is possible to take vitamin complexes developed for lactating women: " Complimite Mom ", " Vitrum Prenatal ", " Elevit Pronatal ".
When should I give up lactation?
You should never breast-feed a child if a woman smokes more cigarettes a day( more than 20 pieces).Such doses of poisonous substances can lead to irreparable consequences and severe intoxication of the child's body. If the mother is not eating well at the same time, there is little on the street, does not follow the recommendations on drinking regimen, the consequences for the baby can be tragic, for example:
- ischemic heart attack;
- coma;
- stroke;
- thromboembolism;
- poisoning and the resulting dehydration.
Breastfeeding is also recommended in cases where the child has signs of severe illness or has a history of chronic systemic diseases. Nutrition containing dangerous substances, in this case, can lead to deterioration of well-being and cause progression of the disease.
If a child suffers frequent attacks of colic, profuse regurgitation, vomiting, loose stool and other digestive disorders, a woman must part with a bad habit. If she can not do this, it is better to transfer the child to artificial feeding, since the benefits of milk formulas in such a situation will be more obvious. The same recommendations can be given to mothers, whose children are often sick with respiratory infections or have already suffered pneumonia. Additional poisoning of the airways with tobacco smoke, resinous substances and nicotine can lead to the development of chronic inflammatory processes in bronchopulmonary tissue, nasopharynx and larynx and lead to concomitant complications from the nervous and cardiovascular systems.