Exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy
Exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy poses serious risks for mother and baby.
- Key facts about second-hand smoke exposure during pregnancy
- What is second-hand smoke?
- How does second-hand smoke increase the risk to my baby and me?
- How can I lower the risk to my baby and me?
- Health benefits of quitting tobacco use at any age
- For help to quit
Key facts about second-hand smoke exposure during pregnancy
- People who do not smoke but who are exposed to second-hand smoke during pregnancy are more likely to experience a stillbirth and more likely to have a baby with a birth defect.Footnote 1
- Second-hand smoke exposure during pregnancy increases the risk of reduced fetal growth or having a baby with low birth weight.Footnote 2
- Reduced fetal growth and low birth weight can result in complications for the baby leading to disease or death.Footnote 3Footnote 4
View health labels for cigarettes and little cigars.
What is second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke is the smoke that comes from a burning tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by a person who is smoking. Many of the chemicals in tobacco smoke are therefore also found in second-hand smoke.
In Canada, an estimated 22% of those who do not smoke are exposed to second-hand smoke every day or almost every day.Footnote 5Footnote 6 Children and adolescents have the highest measurable exposure to second-hand smoke among those exposed in the home.Footnote 5Footnote 6
How does second-hand smoke increase the health risks to my baby and me?
There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. Even brief exposure can be harmful to health.Footnote 2Footnote 8Footnote 9 Nicotine, cancer-causing chemicals, and toxic chemicals found in tobacco smoke enter the body when someone breathes in second-hand smoke.Footnote 7Footnote 9 During pregnancy, many chemicals found in second-hand smoke can pass to the baby through the placenta.Footnote 10
Nicotine in the bloodstream during pregnancy can affect the function of the placenta and decrease blood flow to the developing baby.Footnote 9 This negative outcome can affect the developing baby's heart, lungs, digestive system, and central nervous system.Footnote 11 Carbon monoxide, a toxic substance in cigarette smoke, can slow the baby's growth and lead to low birth weight.Footnote 9
How can I lower the health risks to my baby and me?
Cleaning or filtering the indoor air, increasing ventilation, or segregating smoking areas do not eliminate exposure to second-hand smoke nor its associated health risks.Footnote 2 The only solution to avoid exposure to second-hand smoke and its associated health risks is to eliminate smoking in all enclosed spaces such as vehicles and homes.
Preventing exposure to tobacco smoke, before and after birth, reduces the risk to babies. Preventive measures includes avoiding smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke during and after pregnancy, and keeping the baby away from tobacco smoke in the home, vehicle, and anywhere else the baby spends time.
Health benefits of quitting tobacco use at any age
Quitting tobacco use reduces the risk of premature death, improves health, and enhances quality of life.Footnote 12 Quitting at any age is beneficial to one's health.Footnote 12 Even people who have smoked or used tobacco heavily for many years benefit from it.Footnote 12Footnote 13 Quitting is the most important thing someone who smokes can do to improve their health.
Read more about the benefits of quitting smoking.
For help to quit
Free quit counselling, coaching and other services in your province or territory
Footnotes
- Footnote 1
-
Leonardi-Bee J, Britton J, Venn A. Secondhand smoke and adverse fetal outcomes in nonsmoking pregnant women: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2011;127(4): 734-741. doi: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-3041.
- Footnote 2
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking an Health; 2006.
- Footnote 3
-
Breeze A, Lees C. Prediction and perinatal outcomes of fetal growth restriction. Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine. 2007;12:383-397. doi:10.1016/j.siny.2007.07.002.
- Footnote 4
-
Malin G, Morris R, Riley R, Teune M, Khan K. When is birthweight at term abnormally low? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association and predictive ability of current birth weight standards for neonatal outcomes. BJOG. 2014;121:515-526. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.12517.
- Footnote 5
-
Wong SL, Malaison E, Hammond D, Leatherdale ST. Secondhand smoke exposure among Canadians: cotinine and self-report measures from the Canadian Health Measures Survey 2007–2009. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 2013;15(3): 693–700. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/nts195.
- Footnote 6
-
Levesque J, Mischki T. Exposure to tobacco smoke among Canadian nonsmokers based on questionnaire and biomonitoring data. Health Reports. 2021. doi: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202100200002-eng.
- Footnote 7
-
International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking. Vol. 83. Lyon (France): International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2004.
- Footnote 8
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014.
- Footnote 9
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.
- Footnote 10
-
Lee M, Ha M, Hong Y, Park H, Kim Y, Kim EJ, Kim Y, Ha E. Exposure to prenatal secondhand smoke and early neurodevelopment: Mothers and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH) study. Environmental Health. 2019;18(1): 22. doi: 10.1186/s12940-019-0463-9.
- Footnote 11
-
Fajersztajn L, Veras MM. Hypoxia: From placental development to fetal programming. Birth Defects Research. 2017;109(17):1377-1385. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.1142.
- Footnote 12
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2020.
- Footnote 13
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2004.
Report a problem or mistake on this page
- Date modified: