The consequences of smoking during pregnancy are very dramatic. If clinicians are able to convince their patients to stop smoking early in their pregnancy, a major impact may be made on the incidence of low birth weight infants, perinatal morbidity and mortality, as well as cognitive deficits and behavioral problems in the offspring. A strong statement has to be made on the issue of tobacco exposure during pregnancy. This could be accomplished by informing women that their infants may not only be "smaller" than their nonsmoking counterparts, but their infants may also have transient or permanent changes in their lung and brain ultrastructure. A patient who is informed of these possible long-term effects of nicotine on her child may be more successful with her smoking cessation.…
