Nicotine from e-cigarettes passes easily from the mother to the baby via the placenta in the same way when tobacco is smoked.
One study has shown that users of e-cigarettes can obtain a substantial amount of nicotine from e-cigarettes that is comparable to regular cigarettes, and we do know that nicotine can cross the placenta.
Nicotine easily crosses the placental barrier, and in humans it can be detected in the fetal circulation at levels exceeding maternal concentrations by 15%, while amniotic fluid concentrations of nicotine are 88% higher than maternal plasma [75,99].
Using electronic cigarettes (vaping) during pregnancy isn't safe. Most electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) contain nicotine, which permanently damages a baby's developing brain and many other organs. E-cigarette liquids also contain chemicals, flavors and other additives that might not be safe for your baby.
Your second-hand and third-hand smoke or vapour can cause serious harm to your child, before they're born and during their childhood. For example, unborn babies who are exposed to smoke or vapour are more likely to: be born prematurely or have low birth weight. die during pregnancy or at birth.
This pilot study represents the first examination of specific effects of maternal smoking during on infant neurobehavior at 10–27 days. The half-life of nicotine is approximately 2.5 hours in adults15 and 9–11 hours in newborns,16--one of the shortest half-lives of drugs used during pregnancy17.
This can slow your baby's growth before birth and can damage your baby's lungs and brain. If you smoke during pregnancy, your baby is more likely to: Be born prematurely, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Have birth defects, including birth defects in a baby's mouth called cleft lip or cleft palate.
Carbon monoxide is particularly harmful to developing babies. The vapour from an e-cigarette does contain some of the potentially harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke, but at much lower levels. If using an e-cigarette helps you to stop smoking, it is much safer for you and your baby than continuing to smoke.
While particles from conventional cigarette smoke linger in the air for upwards of 45 minutes, researchers found that those stemming from e-vapor products evaporate within seconds, even indoors.
Point-of-care screenings and counseling for behaviors such as alcohol use and domestic violence are common in prenatal care and accepted by clinicians. Over the past several decades, tests for cotinine and other tobacco byproducts have become available and are used in research settings to identify pregnant smokers.
All infants were delivered at term (38 weeks or greater) and paired umbilical cord tissue (10-cm segment or greater) and meconium were obtained. Nicotine and 3-hydroxycotinine were most prominent in meconium, whereas cotinine and 3-hydroxycotinine were most prominent in the umbilical cord.
How does smoking during pregnancy affect babies? When you smoke, your baby does too. Every cigarette contains 4,000 chemicals, which go into your lungs when you smoke. Once in your lungs, the nicotine, poisons and carbon monoxide cross the placenta to your baby.
The mean nicotine concentration in umbilical cord blood was 1.3 ng/mL, while the mean birth weight was 3,045 g, and the mean birth length was 48.6 cm (Table 2).
What if you didnt know you pregnant and drank and smoked the first month, could that harm or affect the growth and development of the unborn fetus? It is unlikely that moderate smoking or drinking during the first month of pregnancy will be harmful.
Is vaping safe during pregnancy? No. Most vaping products contain nicotine, which is known to be harmful to a developing baby. Nicotine use in pregnancy can harm a baby's developing brain, can cause babies to be born too small or too early, and increases the chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, and SIDS.
Lead, cobalt, arsenic and selenium appear to pass the placental barrier by a diffusion mechanism.
Is passive vaping harmful? There is no good evidence that second-hand vapour from e-cigarettes is harmful. As vaping is still relatively new, we can't be sure there aren't any long-term effects to people who breathe in someone else's vapour. But this is unlikely to be harmful.
According to a 2016 University of California-San Francisco study, 93.8 percent of the inhaled nicotine is retained by the user, and is not part of the exhaled vapor. Even if secondhand vaping can't be proven harmful to others, the concerns of family and friends need to be respected.
Many young people think vaping is harmless because they don't inhale smoke. But that's not true. The mist from vaping can contain very addictive nicotine and harmful chemicals. Young people often become smokers by developing a nicotine habit through vaping.
And smoking while you're pregnant can cause serious problems, too. Your baby could be born too early, have a birth defect, or die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Even being around cigarette smoke can cause health problems for you and your baby. It's best to quit smoking before you get pregnant.
1: Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it's still not safe. E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic.
Are e-cigarettes less harmful than regular cigarettes? Yes—but that doesn't mean e-cigarettes are safe. E-cigarette aerosol generally contains fewer toxic chemicals than the deadly mix of 7,000 chemicals in smoke from regular cigarettes. However, e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless.
Exposure to tobacco smoke in the third trimester has the greatest affect on fetal growth, and quitting prior to the late second trimester will significantly reduce the chances of having a growth-restricted fetus.
It Is Never “Too Late” to Quit Smoking During Pregnancy!
But for women who are already pregnant, quitting as early as possible can still help protect against some health problems for their developing babies, such as being born too small or too early. It is never too late to quit smoking.
Younger women (particularly those under the age of 20) are most likely to smoke during their pregnancy.