What could be the consequences for my baby?
Maternal smoking during pregnancy is a considerable burden on the unborn child. This is clear to most people. But what about maternal smoking during breastfeeding?
The effects of maternal smoking during the breastfeeding period on the child have not been studied as well as during pregnancy. Nevertheless, it is known that smoking during the breastfeeding period leads to negative consequences for the child. Children who are breastfed by smoking mothers show increased nausea, vomiting and even failure to thrive.
Children gain less weight in their first months of life, although this is very important for proper development. In addition, respiratory diseases such as infections or asthma can occur more frequently. These negative consequences are further intensified by passive smoking. Possible long-term consequences, such as an increased risk of cancer, are not so easy to detect and predict. However, it is an important fact that breast milk contaminated by smoking contains an increased concentration of carcinogenic substances.
How much does smoking pollute breast milk?
Breast milk is susceptible to some interfering factors such as alcohol, nicotine or certain drugs. There are substances that are called substances that can pass through breast milk. This means that they can pass through the tissue into the milk and be absorbed by the baby.
It has been proven that many substances contained in cigarettes pass into breast milk. These include nicotine or carcinogenic substances such as dioxins, heavy metals or nitrosamines. To a certain extent, the composition of breast milk is also influenced by environmental influences as well as active and passive smoking by the mother in her previous life.
These pollutants are deposited in the maternal fatty tissue and then pass into the milk during the milk production phase. Active smoking during the breastfeeding phase additionally increases the concentration of these substances. The composition of the milk of a mother who smokes while breastfeeding is therefore also significantly different from the milk of a non-smoker.
