Thousands of women smoke despite being at risk during pregnancy

Despite health hazards for the baby: hundreds of Thuringian pregnant women smoke
Although it has long been known that smoking during pregnancy can harm the child, many expectant mothers do not follow the advice of health professionals. Especially women in Thuringia can not keep their fingers off cigarettes.

Over 20 cigarettes a day
Despite warnings from doctors not to smoke during pregnancy, hundreds of expectant mothers in Thuringia to cigarette. This is from recent data from the country's quality assurance office in 2014, according to news agency dpa. According to the study, 1,174 pregnant women reported having smoked up to ten times a day. That corresponds to seven percent of all pregnant women in the Free State. 212 women even smoked up to 20 cigarettes daily. And 22 interviewees stated that they had resorted to glowing spells 21 times and more.

In Thuringia many women do not stop smoking even during pregnancy. (Image: highwaystarz / fotolia.com)

In Thuringia, the consumption of tobacco by pregnant women is particularly bad
However, as they say, most expectant mothers have completely abandoned tobacco use. According to the figures, in 2014 there were more than 12,700 women, ie 76 percent of all pregnant women. Altogether there were 16,669 births. Since not all women responded to the question of whether they smoked during pregnancy during the survey, the proportion of smoldering pregnant women could be even higher. For many years, the state of Thuringia has had a significantly higher rate of tobacco users compared to the national average. Thus, an older investigation of the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) revealed that about one in ten pregnant women smokes there.

Smoking harms the unborn child
Health experts warn again and again about the risks of cigarette consumption before delivery. Among other things, this significantly increases the risk of premature or miscarriage. In addition, smoking during pregnancy harms children for years, as scientific studies have shown. Australian scientists who observed serious consequences for the unborn child through tobacco use advise mothers who have smoked during pregnancy and doctors, after childbirth, to focus on certain adolescents risk factors such as high blood pressure or low density lipoprotein (LDL), the so-called " bad cholesterol ". (Ad)