Passive Smoking during Pregnancy as Unrecognized Harms at Home: Nurses’ Role in Prenatal Care

Abstract

Passive smoking at home refers to pregnant women’s exposure to second-hand and/or third-hand smoke from their husbands or family members that brings unfavorable impacts on developing fetus during pregnancy. This situation revealed that pregnant women have a poor understanding of harmful substances in cigarette smoke, the severity, and the impacts of passive smoking at home on fetus and birth outcomes. All pregnant women and fetus have the right to live in a smoke-free environment at home. Pregnant women alone cannot deal with smoking at home on their own, so they need help from healthcare professionals. As nurse-midwives are the closest healthcare professionals to pregnant women, they play a vital role in the prevention and management of passive smoking at home during pregnancy. This paper aims to describe the harmful substances in cigarettes, the impacts of passive smoking on birth outcomes and babies, and the roles of nurse-midwives in the prevention and management of passive smoking at home among pregnant women. 

Cigarette smoke contains many teratogens that are toxic to the fetus, especially carbon monoxide, tar, cadmium, nicotine, formaldehyde, and nitrogen dioxide. Passive smoking has both short-term and long-term negative impacts on the fetus and later in life, including preterm birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, small for gestational age, and congenital heart defects. Moreover, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and metabolic diseases are likely found in grown-up children exposed to second-hand smoke while in utero. The roles of nurse-midwives include assessing tobacco use and passive smoking at home, providing comprehensive education on passive smoking using media or self-learning materials, and offering counseling emphasizing women’s context and gender-sensitive approaches. 

Nurse-midwives can apply knowledge from this article as a guide to prevent and manage to achieve a smoke-free home for pregnant women to minimize adverse pregnancy outcomes and optimize fetal well-being.