Everyone knows that a woman who is pregnant should never, ever light up when they are pregnant, yet, for some reason or another, there are still women who choose to smoke cigarettes while they are with child. While I, as well as other people, am an advocate of free will and personal choice, there is a certain line to be drawn when the act is endangering the life of another person, especially when that person is just a tiny, growing baby.

The consequences of smoking cigarettes and cigars or chewing on tobacco products are hardly ever good. In fact, the consequences are never good, and cigarette smoking is responsible for the death of over 400,000 people in the United States and 6 million people worldwide. If the smoke of a cigarette can cause this much death to an adult, what is it doing to a fetus?

First off, let's take a look at what cigarette smoking does to the woman. Research has shown that smoking more than half a pack per day can cause menstrual cycles to become irregular and infertility. Studies also show that menopause will occur sooner than in women who do not smoke. Menopause might be some women's dream because it rids them of those monthly blues, but it should be natural and not induced by cigarettes.

Add that on to the other dangers associated with cigarette smoking, and you have a recipe for disaster. Smoking cigarettes has been linked to a myriad of disease, including heart attack, lung cancer, and cancer of other vital organs. If the mother is inhaling the 4,800+ chemicals emitting from the cigarette, then so is the baby.

A baby's growth can be stunted when the mother smokes because cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide, which restricts oxygen flow. In a time when development is crucial for a baby, it needs proper oxygen flow so that vital organs, the brain, and the nervous system can develop properly. When the baby is getting older, they are more likely to develop respiratory illnesses like asthma. When a mother continues to smoke afterwards and is also breastfeeding, she is passing on the nicotine to her baby. Not to mention the secondhand smoke that the baby is being exposed to on a day-to-day basis.

Sometimes, the baby may not even be born at all because smoking increases the chances of miscarriages. In some cases, a stillbirth or premature labor is the result.