Smoking is not good for your [Please register to see this link Register], but it's even worse for the baby after it's conceived.

Smoking nearly doubles a woman’s risk of having a low-birthweight baby. In 2002, 12.2 percent of babies born to smokers in the United States were of low birthweight (less than 5½ pounds), compared to 7.5 percent of babies of nonsmokers.2 Low birthweight can result from poor growth before birth, preterm delivery or a combination of both. Smoking has long been known to slow fetal growth. Studies also suggest that smoking increases the risk of preterm delivery 37 weeks of gestation). Premature and low-birthweight babies face an increased risk of serious health problems during the newborn period, chronic lifelong disabilities (such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation and learning problems) and even death.

The more a pregnant woman smokes, the greater the risk to her baby. However, if a woman stops smoking by the end of her first trimester of pregnancy, she is no more likely to have a low-birthweight baby than a woman who never smoked. Even if a woman has not been able to stop smoking in her first or second trimester, stopping during the third trimester can still improve her baby’s growth.