If you are pregnant or planning pregnancy, quitting smoking is one of the most powerful protections you can give your baby. This guide explains smoking during pregnancy risks — honestly, without judgement — and where to get help.
Risks to the baby
- Miscarriage and stillbirth: significantly higher risk.
- Premature birth and low birth weight: leading to breathing problems and NICU stays.
- Birth defects: including cleft lip/palate and heart defects.
- SIDS: babies of smokers face higher sudden infant death risk.
- Long-term effects: more asthma, ear infections and learning difficulties.
Risks to the mother
Smokers face higher rates of ectopic pregnancy, placental abruption, placenta praevia and pre-eclampsia. Partners should quit too — secondhand smoke harms both mother and baby.
It is never too late to quit
Quitting at any stage of pregnancy improves outcomes; quitting in the first trimester brings many risks close to non-smoker levels. Related reading: smoking and fertility.
Safe ways to quit while pregnant
- Talk to your GP or midwife first — they support quitting without judgement.
- Call Quitline 13 78 48 — free counselling, including for pregnant women.
- Ask about NRT — under medical advice it may be safer than continuing to smoke.
- Use our resources: quit guide, quit support hub and FAQs.
Partners: Why You Should Quit Too
Smoking during pregnancy is not only the mother’s issue — partners who smoke expose mother and baby to secondhand smoke, double the mother’s chance of relapsing, and model smoking for the child. Quitting together removes smoking during pregnancy risks from the home entirely. See protecting family and fertility risks.
Quit Aids in Pregnancy: What’s Safe?
Behavioural support (Quitline 13 78 48, GP, midwife) is first-line and completely safe. NRT may be recommended when counselling alone fails, since regulated nicotine without smoke is less harmful than continuing to smoke. Always follow medical advice, and use our quit guide plus our quit hub for daily encouragement.
After Birth: Staying Smoke-Free
Up to half of women who quit for pregnancy relapse within months of delivery — often from sleep deprivation, stress and the mistaken belief the danger has passed. But smoking during pregnancy risks continue after birth as secondhand smoke: higher SIDS, more ear infections and asthma, and slower infant lung growth. Protect your quit by planning now: line up support, keep NRT guidance from your GP, and treat staying quit as part of parenting, not an optional extra. Smoking during pregnancy may end at delivery; your child’s need for clean air does not.
Breastfeeding and Smoking
Breast milk from smokers carries nicotine and reduces milk supply — yet breastfeeding while smoking is still generally recommended over formula, because breast milk’s benefits outweigh the exposure. Better still: quit, or at minimum smoke only after feeds, never near baby, and in minimal amounts. Discuss NRT compatibility with your GP or pharmacist. Support: quit guide, protecting family, our quit hub and Quitline 13 78 48.
Your Support Network Checklist
Assemble your team against smoking during pregnancy: a GP or midwife for medical guidance, Quitline 13 78 48 for counselling, a quit buddy (partner, friend, family), a quit app for daily tactics, and our quit hub for reading material. Tell everyone your quit date and how to help — specific requests (“walk with me after dinner”) beat vague announcements every time.
Smoking During Pregnancy: Key Takeaways
Smoking during pregnancy increases miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight, birth defects and SIDS — and partners’ smoke adds further harm. The reassuring news about smoking during pregnancy is that quitting at any stage improves outcomes, with first-trimester quitting bringing many risks near non-smoker levels.
Read smoking and fertility and protecting family from smoke, talk to your GP or midwife, and call Quitline 13 78 48 or visit our quit hub.
Health warning: Smoking kills. Smoking is harmful to your health and the health of those around you. For free help quitting in Australia, call Quitline 13 78 48 or visit quit.org.au.
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