Breastfeeding provides an infant with health benefits, as well as the mother. Infants who are breastfed are less likely to suffer from ear infections, obesity, and asthma. Mothers who breastfeed lower their risk of breast and cervical cancer but, mothers who smoke risk exposing their baby to the harmful chemicals found in tobacco and e-cigarette products
Rebecca Christian, a 35-year-old mother who works in Jackson decided to quit because she wanted to breastfeed her baby. “I started smoking cigarettes when I was 14. I thought I was cool. I didn’t think about my health back then.” Christian added, “I care about my health now, and mostly the health of my baby. Breastfeeding is good for me and him, smoking isn’t.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say breastfed infants are at lower risk for developing diabetes and are less likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The Mississippi State Department of Health reports that SIDS is the third leading cause of infant mortality in the state. A contributing factor to SIDS deaths is secondhand smoke. Breastfeeding and quitting smoking is best for the health of both mother and child.
According to the office of Tobacco Control at the Mississippi State Department of Health 8.9% of women giving birth in 2017 smoked at some point during their pregnancy, and 15% of mothers with an infant death, smoked at some point in their pregnancy.
“Quitting smoking provides new health and protection to you and your baby, no matter when you quit,” said Kathryn Allman, director of the Mississippi Tobacco-Free Coalition of Choctaw, Montgomery and Webster counties. “These benefits are more important now than ever.”
For information about the dangers of cigarettes visit www.healthyms.com/tobacco For help with quitting visit www.quitlinems.com, or call the Mississippi Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
