To say that smoking during pregnancy is a dangerous proposition would be an understatement to say the least. In reality, the damage that can occur when the mother is smoking while there is a child in the womb is significant. The variety of problems that a child can face if the mother smokes during pregnancy is voluminous and can even lead to stillborn births. This, of course, begs the question if smoking during pregnancy causes so many problems, why do so many women continue to do so? The answer to this question is that many women today don’t smoke during pregnancy, but many still do. Mercifully, the numbers of people who have quit smoking have drastically increased over the last two decades. Part of the reason women smoked during pregnancy in pervious generations was due to smoking among the population as a whole was heavily addicted to nicotine. In 1964, it is estimated nearly one half the population was smoking.
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