In the past ten years, a large amount of research has been carried out on the territory of the entire planet, which has opened the eyes of all people to the harmful effects of smoking on the female body during pregnancy. In most countries of the world, there is a problem of smoking among women, especially at an early age or during pregnancy. An example can be given: in the United States, one third of the female population smokes already in adolescence, more than half of all pregnant women are also smokers , 21-26% of them smoke directly during pregnancy. In England, half of pregnant women also poison their and children’s bodies with nicotine and other no less harmful substances.                       

Among women giving birth for the first time, there were smokers 1.8-2 years younger than nonsmokers, and among women giving birth for the second time – by 2.2 years. Of Australian women before pregnancy, 40% smoked, but after the establishment, some still quit smoking, but one third of pregnant women continued to smoke, despite the health of their unborn child. In Switzerland, 9% of women quit smoking after being pregnant.             

The number of pregnant women who smoke is also on the rise in Canada . C surprising number of women smokers is increasing rapidly every year: in 1975. smoked 52%, and in 1978. 54% of pregnant women. Accordingly, 6.6-8.2% of women who smoke have stopped smoking. On the first month of pregnancy stopped smoking 39% of women in the second month, 16% at 14% of the third month. Six months after giving birth, women who quit smoking started smoking again. At the moment, there are no less well-grounded data on the spread of the bad habit among pregnant women. Social factors and conditions play the most important role in this problem . There is a lot of data on the influence of a woman’s position in certain social groups, as well as the state of marriage on a woman’s smoking during pregnancy. It is worth noting that most women of lower social status smoke much more during pregnancy than others, and rarely quit smoking before pregnancy. These same data are typical for pregnant women, not consisting in the marriage. Summing up the results of the studies, it can be concluded that smoking has a complex adverse effect on pregnancy. The research examines the negative impact of smoking on the child’s body weight, perinatal mortality, preterm infants, as well as physical and mental disability. In smoking mothers, complications of pregnancy are divided into complications directly in the mother’s body, in the body of the embryo, as well as in newborns and older children.        

                     

              

It is known that the mother, the embryo and the placenta constitute a single whole (as well as a single human body), and this affects various kinds of disorders that occur in smoking mothers during pregnancy. According to experts, under the influence of harmful substances of tobacco, pathological effects of a different origin can develop. The negative effect of smoking on the embryo is a “factor” of its damage, a high probability of spontaneous abortion, early birth , mortality, and possibly a long-term effect on physical development, the development of intelligence and the nervous system also slows down. All this is called a fetal syndrome. The likelihood of unsuccessful childbirth increases significantly in smoking mothers. The observations of doctors have proved that the increased body weight of the mother is not able to protect the child from the harmful effects of tobacco smoking. In smoking mothers have been revealed serious changes of the placenta associated with the negative effects of smoking. After investigation, it was found that in smoking mothers placental weight of the ball is much less than normal, but to a lesser degree than the body weight of the child.                   

            

The wall of the placenta in mothers who smoked was thinner and more rounded. Also, in pregnant women who smoked, the placenta had impaired blood flow and ultrastructural changes. The high likelihood of spontaneous abortions, physical retardation of the development of the newborn, neonatal mortality of the child in smoking mothers is explained by the fact that the placenta is prematurely separated or fetal hypoxia occurs. The most likely causes of fetal mortality in smoking mothers who smoked during pregnancy are extensive placental infarction. There is such information that during pregnancy, smoking negatively affects the state of peripheral circulation in pregnant women and contributes to the reduction of respiratory movements of the fetus. Carbon monoxide, nicotine and other equally harmful substances contained in tobacco smoke affect the intrauterine growth of the fetus due to a lack of hemoglobin, thereby reducing oxygen delivery, or due to spasm of the uterine artery and various disorders of this kind. It is known that during inhalation of cigarette smoke, regardless of nicotine results in fetal hypoxia associated with carbon monoxide, which enters the baby through the placenta blood, hemoglobin captures and forms carboxyhemoglobin. This leads to a decrease in the partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood of the fetus by 33%, and to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood of the child. A sharp decrease in fetal weight in smoking mothers is associated with fetal tissue hypoxia caused by carboxyhemoglobin.           

            

                

Experts noted that the body weight of pregnant women who smoked during pregnancy increased much less than the weight of non-smokers. The first on is influenced by the intensity of smoking. It has been proven that smoking strongly influences the Volume of pregnant mothers receiving food during the time of pregnancy, the most it contributes to the reduction of nutrients in the blood of mother and child. Norwegian experts have studied the effect of smoking during pregnancy on the fetus, as well as on the level of thiocyanate in the body of the mother and fetus.