Smoking is a bad habit, getting rid of it is difficult because of the developing addiction. Therefore, pregnant women are interested in whether it is possible to replace cigarettes with hookah. Is it really possible to smoke a hookah during pregnancy and what is it dangerous for the child?
Hookah during pregnancy
Nicotine and toxins contained in cigarette smoke lead to malformations of the fetus, so pregnant women who are accustomed to smoking switch to hookah. It is considered safe because tobacco smoke in this case is filtered by water or milk.
Hookah smoke does contain less biologically active substances that poison the body. The liquid retains about half the solids, some benzapyrene and polycyclenes, and up to 90% of the phenols, acetaldehyde, acrolein.
However, the body in the process of smoking hookah receives large doses of other toxic substances that threaten the health of not only the mother, but also the future child:
- chromium;
- arsenic;
- lead;
- of cotinine.
In addition, the hookahs use tobacco produced by special technology. It increases the level of acidity, and at the same time - the biological activity of nicotine.
Harm for Mom and Child
Smoke and harmful substances that are formed during the combustion of tobacco settle inside the hookah. Some of them hold water, wine, milk, which are added as a filter. However, the degree of purification, according to researchers, reaches a maximum of 40%.
When a pregnant woman is hooked, the baby in her womb begins to suffocate, because of the spasm of blood vessels, the flow of oxygen to the placenta is hampered. Simultaneously, the fetus begins to poison chemical substances and carbon monoxide, which are transmitted to him with the blood of his mother.
This can trigger:
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- pathological delivery;
- weak immunity in a child at risk of infection;
- intrauterine malformations;
- delayed child development;
- fetal death.
Consequences of smoking during pregnancy are often not immediately apparent, and for years to 6-7, when the child begins to go to school. During this period it turns out that it is difficult for him to learn children's poems and songs, to memorize new information.
Now there are many non-nicotine mixes for hookahs, which are advertised as harmless. However, such a statement does not correspond to reality. Tobacco in these mixtures is not, and, therefore, there is no nicotine, but in them the "quality" of the smoke is changed.
Burning, fruit additives give off an increased amount of aromatic hydrocarbons, acetaldehyde, resins. They cause no less damage to the fetus than tobacco, since it has not yet formed immunity.
On the video of the harm of smoking a hookah during pregnancy:
Arguments in favor of
It is believed that a hookah is harmless during pregnancy and causes less harm to the health of mother and future child than cigarettes.
This is confirmed by three arguments:
- Hookah tobacco contains less tar.
- Smoke is filtered through a liquid.
- Hookah does not cause addiction.
In reality, these are myths that scientists discredit. According to the results of research, on the topic of whether a hookah is harmful during pregnancy, it was concluded that hookah tobacco is even more harmful than a cigarette tobacco.
The content of nicotine in a tobacco package for a hookah weighing 50 g is 0.05%, which corresponds to 25 mg. Packs of tobacco is enough for four hookah refills, respectively, in a single serving contains 6.25 mg of nicotine, although in the cigarette it is 0.8 mg. Despite the fact that some amount of this substance will retain liquid, the pregnant woman will still receive his shock dose.
Smoke from any tobacco contains nicotine and carbon monoxide. Only when hookah hooks into the blood, it gets 3-7 times more nicotine and twice as much carbon monoxide, as well as salts of heavy metals and resins.
Coals, which are laid on the foil at the top of the hookah, are heated to very high temperatures. As a result, even with raw tobacco, benzapyrene enters the body. This is a dangerous carcinogen, which leads to oncology.
The very production of smoking tobacco is difficult to control. The consumer can not be 100% sure of the composition of the mixtures. Because they are mostly aromatic, manufacturers can add flavor enhancers that also harm health.
Liquids clean hookah smoke from harmful impurities, but only partially. At the same time, even the minimal amount of toxins that have got through the placenta to the fetus in the early stages of pregnancy can cause disruptions in its development.
By inhaling a cigarette or hookah, formally a person inhales the same amount of smoke - exactly as much as his lungs can draw. However, people smoke a hookah for an average of half an hour, and a cigarette - about 5 minutes.
If smoking cigarettes produces 400 ml of smoke, then when smoking a hookah - 1,5 liters. Even with the filtration of smoke during this time, a significant amount of carbon monoxide will enter the body of a pregnant woman, and with it toxic substances.
Passive smoking
With active smoking of hookah, the smoke in the body of the pregnant woman gets in parts, and when passive it consumes non-stop smoke containing pairs of nicotine, ammonia, carbon monoxide, radioactive substances.
In this case, more harmful chemical compounds penetrate the placenta, which provokes many pathological conditions:
- birth before the term;
- low birth weight of a child;
- syndrome of sudden infant death;
- atopic dermatitis in a newborn.
A child in the womb of a mother is helpless and unable to withstand the action of tobacco smoke. If a woman during pregnancy is often in hookah and does not smoke, it still harms the future baby.
Active hookah smoker consumes only 20% of the chemical compounds contained in the smoke. The rest of the toxic substances he releases into the environment, after which they are inhaled by all who are nearby.
Through the mother's blood, the chemical compounds contained in the sidestream smoke are transferred to the fetus. Frequent and prolonged finding of a pregnant woman in hookah can provoke a strong intoxication of a future mother, which manifests itself by nausea, stomach cramps, insomnia and headache.
Consequences of poisoning for a child can become:
- weak lungs;
- bronchitis;
- asthma;
- pneumonia;
- food allergy;
- low immunity.
Conclusion
Being pregnant, the woman is responsible for herself and for the unborn child. Being in the womb, he consumes everything that gets into the body of the mother.
Any doctor will confirm that during pregnancy you can not smoke cigarettes, hookah, or electronic devices. Even in the smoke from the combustion of non-nicotine mixtures contain carcinogens, which are excreted from the blood for 8 hours, so even breathing smoke is extremely dangerous. All this time through the placenta they come to the fetus, poisoning it and disrupting its development.
A couple of days after giving up a bad habit a woman can again fully experience the smells and taste of food, her face will improve. Simultaneously, the general well-being is normalized, and most importantly - the chances of getting pregnant and giving birth to a healthy child will increase.