Tobacco is associated during pregnancy with various harmful effects on the baby, especially during the first weeks in which the organs are formed. A study conducted in the United States by scientists who are experts in congenital diseases ensures that smoking in the first trimester of pregnancy is related to congenital heart defects.
Many times the risks of smoking in pregnancy are not dimensioned, but to give you an idea, when the mother smokes in the first three months of pregnancy there is a probability of between 20 to 70 percent higher that the baby is born with certain types of congenital heart defects that if not smoked.
They found that smoking during the first trimester specifically leads to certain types of defects such as obstruction of the flow of the right ventricle tract, a condition that obstructs the flow of blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs, as well as openings between the upper chambers of the heart, called atrial septum defects.
The first defect requires surgery to survive, while the second may vary in severity, but may also be needed.
Smoking is harmful at any time during pregnancy, so it is advisable to quit before looking for a baby. Quitting smoking before pregnancy reduces the risk of premature delivery and the baby being born underweight, among other possible complications.
The congenital heart defects They are the most frequent birth defects and quitting smoking can prevent up to 100 cases of obstruction of the blood flow of the right ventricle and 700 cases of defects of the atrial septum each year, as explained by the scientists.
