From the author: Note for future parents I always consider it an honor to meet a woman who has quit smoking because she is pregnant or is going to become pregnant. It's not easy But it can be done Robin Lim So you found out that you are pregnant. You decided to continue the pregnancy. But you have your own principles of life, your own habits - harmful and not harmful. How to deal with this. I met a girl recently, almost 7 months pregnant. He sits on a bench, resting and smoking. I come up and so unobtrusively ask: “Is it possible for you?” He says: “It’s possible. My doctor said that if you don’t quit right away, then you don’t have to quit.” “Did the doctor really say that?” She answers, “Yes.” That’s where I started thinking. Still, I don’t believe that the doctor said that. I think the girl is being disingenuous. Either she misunderstood the doctor or understood it at her convenience. I would like to quote excerpts from the book by Akin Alishani and Daria Streltsova “Nine Months and entire life ". Two thirds of perinatal deaths (deaths of newborns) could be avoided if mothers did not smoke during pregnancy**. Smoking increases your blood pressure, increasing swelling, which can lead to a dangerous condition - preeclampsia***. Smoking reduces the concentration of oxygen in your blood, robbing your baby of this precious oxygen. In the placenta, blood circulation from the mother decreases, and this blood is depleted of oxygen. When oxygen reaches the child, it cannot pass freely through his circulatory system, since under the influence of nicotine his blood vessels have narrowed and the blood itself has become more viscous than usual. The lack of oxygen that the child experiences during this sluggish functioning of the placenta prevents him from growing and developing normally. As soon as a pregnant woman lights a cigarette, the child begins to experience tachycardia—the heartbeat increases. Recent studies show that a baby's heartbeat changes when his mother is just thinking about lighting a cigarette. The baby inside is already making breathing movements, preparing for life after birth. When the mother smokes and the amount of oxygen entering the blood decreases, these movements cease to be rhythmic. The baby seems to be suffocating, and his cough reflex (reflex contractions of the respiratory muscles) is activated. Smoking is one of the most common causes of pregnancy disorders. Here are some of the most serious complications: - miscarriages and premature births; - vaginal bleeding; - abnormal placement of the placenta; - premature placental rejection (life-threatening for mother and baby); - low birth weight of the baby (babies born to smoking mothers weigh on average 200 g less than non-smokers). There are also long-term consequences for the child, and not only physiological. By the age of 7, children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy tend to lag behind others in reading, writing, counting and other skills. If you are already pregnant but have not yet quit smoking, do not think it is too late for you to do so. By quitting smoking even in the fifth month of pregnancy, you will greatly reduce the harm caused to the baby. Quitting cigarettes even in the last month will at least maintain the flow of oxygen necessary for the birth itself. But it is easier and better to quit smoking in the early stages of pregnancy, when the body helps you reject all harmful external influences, and the first symptom of this is toxicosis. If you have an aversion to tobacco smoke, you are in luck - use