Online Guide to Quitting
Back: Thinking About QuittingThinking About Quitting
Smoking's Impact on Others
Even a little secondhand smoke is dangerous.
Secondhand smoke can cause cancer in nonsmokers. It can also cause breathing problems and heart disease. People who breathe secondhand smoke get colds and flu more easily. And they often die younger than those who don't breathe it.
Pregnant women who breathe secondhand smoke have many risks:
- They may lose their babies.
- Their babies may be born small.
- Their babies are more likely to die of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
- Their children may be cranky, restless, and get sick more often.
- Their children are more likely to have learning problems.
Children who breathe secondhand smoke have troubles too. They are much more likely to have breathing problems such as asthma. They also get more ear and lung infections (like pneumonia).
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 10: Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. National Cancer Institute, August 1999.
Pregnant or thinking about having a baby?
There's no better time to quit than now.
Women who smoke have a harder time getting pregnant. And you face more dangers if you do get pregnant:
- You may lose the baby or have a stillborn (dead) baby.
- Your baby may be born small.
- Your baby is more likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
- Your baby may be cranky, restless, and get sick more often.
- Your baby is more likely to have learning problems.
The good news is that quitting can help you have a healthy baby. It helps to quit at any time while you are pregnant. It's even better to quit before you get pregnant.
Adapted from Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General - 2001. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001.
