One would find that women are more sensitive to tobacco smoke than men. The more cigarettes a woman smoke during pregnancy, the greater the probable reduction in birth weight. It also leads to transplacental toxicity to the foetus. The risk is greater in the children of women who are poor, anemic or have had several children. The adverse effects of smoking on pregnancy range from low birth weight to increased incidence of spontaneous abortions, prematurity, still-births and neonatal deaths. Casual and social smoking is on the rise among young working women across metropolitan cities in India.
A matter of grave concern is the long interval between the start of smoking habit and the manifestation of deadly diseases like cancer, chronic bronchitis and heart attack. It is also rightly pointed out that “Women who use tobacco during pregnancy are more likely to have babies with low birth weight”. Women are generally not aware of a link between smoking and the misery they suffer years later. If a mother smokes during pregnancy, the chemicals entering her blood from the cigarettes she smokes can pass into the baby growing in her womb and damage the supply route for oxygen and food for the child. Some of the damage appears to affect the child after it is born-sometimes for many years. Smoking after the baby’s birth also carries severe risks to the child. It is also found that many mothers, who manage to stop smoking while they are pregnant, start again as soon as the baby is born. We all know that for a smoker it is very difficult to leave the smoking. But for those parents who are unable or unwilling to quite their smoking should take the following precautions atleast:
1.Don’t smoke while a child is in the same room or in a Car.
2.Don’t smoke when nursing, feeding, or holding an infant.
3.Don’t allow family or friends to smoke while children are present.
According to a health ministry study in 2009-10, 24% of men and 17% of women use smokeless tobacco. About 9% of men and 1% of women both chew tobacco and smoke it. The survey also showed that tobacco use was higher in rural areas compared to urban areas in both men and women. About¬ 52% among rural men and 24% among rural women compared to 38% and 12% in urban areas consumed tobacco.
According to studies, India now has 12.1 million women smokers and only lags behind the United States in this segment. While an average male smokes 6.1 cigarettes a day, a woman smokes an average of 7 cigarettes per day. Coming to India and the scenario of smoking here, a large percentage of 11.2% of the entire world’s smokers are from India. More women are smoking than ever before, especially in urban centres. Smoking is seen among young women professionals, in their mid-20s and in high-stress jobs. They want to be termed cool and treated equal to men,
By smoking, women risk breast and cervical cancer and cardiac ailments.
Smoking is not a good habit, no matter who does it. But more people stare at women who smoke. Many films get money from the tobacco giants and propagate smoking. They insert scenes where lighting a cigarette adds to a girl’s sensuality, and helps the character come out with an instant solution to a problem. The age group of women is 35-44 years. In some cities, younger women have taken to smoking in a big way.
Cigarette smoking has many adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, including an increased risk for infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Women smokers often have symptoms of menopause about three years earlier than nonsmokers. This is a serious and unique public health issue, with an enormous consequence not only for women’s health but also their families. Women not only share most of the health risks of smoking with men (such as cancer of the lungs and gastro-intestinal tract) but also face additional health hazards like adverse pregnancy outcomes and increased cardiovascular risks. Women smokers are at greater risk of heart attacks and paralytic brain strokes.

Email:----dixitpatrakar@yahoo.in