Human studies have shown that women who e-cigarette during pregnancy have a higher chance of having a low-growth baby. Studies have also shown that young children of mothers who stop smoking during pregnancy with nicotine replacement therapies have lower normal development at the age of two.

Animal studies have shown that the consumption of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes during pregnancy can lead to poor growth and development in babies. A study on the lung development of babies found that the use of e-cigarettes during pregnancy is associated with changes in the baby's lungs. Another animal study found that blood flow to the baby decreased after e-cigarette use.

Studies have not been conducted to determine whether e-cigarettes increase the likelihood of having a baby with birth defects by 3-5%. It is well-established and well-known that smoking cigarettes during pregnancy can be hazardous to the health of both mother and child. Some studies have found that conventional cigarettes, including nicotine, increase the likelihood of miscarriage.

Nicotine is an addictive substance that is toxic to reproduction and impairs fetal brain development; e-cigarettes during pregnancy are not a safe substitute for smoking. Nicotine consumption during pregnancy can damage the developing brains of babies and result in the baby being born with a small but increased likelihood of miscarriage, stillbirth or SIDS.

E-cigarettes contain liquid nicotine, which is inhaled as a mist or vapour. When you vaporize, the liquid nicotine enters your baby's bloodstream through the placenta, just as it does when smoking tobacco cigarettes.

Therefore it is best to avoid the use of e-cigarettes and other nicotine-containing products during pregnancy. Switching from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes can expose your baby to nicotine and other potentially harmful substances.

Although there are no studies on the health risks of using e-cigarettes during pregnancy, e-cigarettes are not considered harmless to fetuses. Pregnant women switching from NRT to vaping can reduce their exposure to carcinogenic substances19. UK guidelines state that no nicotine should be prescribed in the form of NRT during pregnancy20. However, there is no guidance on the potential of vapour products to reduce smoking exposure in pregnant women. E-cigarettes have been advertised as a smoking cessation aid, but studies have not shown that they are effective.

Although the 2016 CDC Surgeon General Report for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that e-cigarettes are not safe for pregnant women and that vaping has potential benefits for non-pregnant smokers, researchers are still conducting studies. Comprehensive and complex research studies studying risk perceptions and health beliefs regarding the use of e-cigarettes during pregnancy using consumer behavior models are still lacking.

We are now able to better understand the effects of vaping on reproductive health with limited representative data on e-cigarette use during pregnancy. Although little is known about how the risk perception of e-cigarette use during pregnancy varies according to socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of e-cigarettes and tobacco use during pregnancy is an important aspect in planning future prevention measures and research studies.

In a study conducted in 2017 of a sample of pregnant women in the United States and published in the journal Preventive Medicine, researchers found that 28.5 percent of current smokers and 4.9 percent of participants used e-cigarettes during pregnancy. One study found that electronic smoking among pregnant smokers who used Food and Drug Administration approved smoking cessation products such as nicotine patches and nasal sprays were more common than e-cigarettes, despite the convenience and prominent promotion of healthier alternatives to cigarettes. Another suggestion is a new study that found that 4% of pregnant American women smoke and that the rate of using e-cigarettes was higher among pregnant women than among non-pregnant women.

While the US smoking rate fell from 42.4% between 1965 and 2017 to 13.9%, the advent of electronic nicotine delivery systems could cause many smokers, including pregnant women, to switch to vaping. According to a study in March 2019, 7% of women said having vaped for up to six months before giving birth during the three months of pregnancy and during the pregnancy. More than 38% of women who vaporized in the last trimester reported using products containing nicotine.

Hawkins and colleagues reported that vaping during the last three months of pregnancy ranged from 0.6% in New York City to 4.4% in West Virginia among pregnant women who did not smoke during pregnancy, with 0.5% using vapor products. In a large survey, the vapor prevalence was similar among pregnant (36%) and non-pregnant (33%) women (P < .001), but the prevalence of smoking was significantly lower among pregnant women (8.0%) than among non-pregnant women (14.3%; P < .01). Although only one study reported the nicotine content of the participants who vaporized products, 38% of pregnant vapers (3,277) used nicotine products and 35% vapor-free vapor products34 (Additional Table 2).

Researchers suggested that this report suggests that babies of mothers who smoke or vape may show signs of brain impairment because women do not use e-cigarettes during pregnancy. The researchers compared babies born to mothers who smoked B and C e-cigarettes during pregnancy with those who smoked or vaporized. They began by explaining the neurobehavioral problems observed in the babies of mothers given vapor, and the mechanisms by which the current nicotine was present in cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

It is not known whether secondhand e-cigarettes pose a risk to your pregnancy or the baby after birth. It is common during pregnancy to use dual cigarettes and e-cigarettes and it is possible that the observed harm is due to smoking and / or e-smoking in both groups.

Vape on YEG recommends you be safe during pregnancy - if you don't smoke , don't vape . If you smoke, consider ways to quit while you are pregnant. Speak to a doctor if vaping during pregnancy is safe for you.