Smoking
Smoking harms the unborn child, and passive smoking is harmful too. If you smoke, there is a greater chance during pregnancy of a miscarriage, a premature birth, the placenta coming away early, a baby with a lower birth weight, or a condition such as a cleft lip or club foot. After the birth there is a greater chance of a baby in poorer general condition, with breathing and/or behavioural problems, airway infections and/or middle ear infections. Smoking is also linked with excessive crying and even with cot death, and it can cause difficulties with breastfeeding. Conceiving is harder if you smoke, too.
See also www.ikstopnu.nl.
Alcohol
Drinking alcohol is advised against entirely — not even one glass a day. If you are trying to conceive, alcohol reduces fertility (the father's too) and raises the chance of a miscarriage. During pregnancy it increases the risk of a miscarriage or premature birth and can affect your baby's psychomotor development. Several glasses a day during pregnancy can lead to serious congenital abnormalities, such as foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). These children show growth abnormalities, brain damage and distinctive facial features. Drinking more than two glasses a day during pregnancy increases the chance that the child will later develop an alcohol addiction. Alcohol while breastfeeding can affect how your baby feeds: in the three hours after a mother has had one or more alcoholic drinks, babies turn out to drink considerably less than when she has had none at all. Alcohol can also disturb their pattern of sleeping and waking.
See also www.alcoholenzwangerschap.nl.
Drugs
Any use of drugs during pregnancy is strongly advised against. Drugs can cause withdrawal symptoms in the newborn baby, and some carry an increased risk of a baby with congenital abnormalities.
See also www.drugsinfo.nl.