On an average day, you stumble out of bed and slip on your running shoes. Then, there's a hot shower, a cup of coffee, a stressful day on the job, no lunch, a glass of wine with dinner and, finally, bedtime – much later than you had planned. Sounds pretty routine to most people, but certain components to the average day can be harmful to the pregnant woman and her growing child.

The media is abuzz about the harmful side effects of cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke. Experts now agree that smoking during pregnancy can deprive growing fetuses of life-sustaining elements such as oxygen and other nutrients. Is it any surprise, then, that Dr. Ed Shaxted, an obstetrician and gynecologist in the United Kingdom, would list smoking as the top activity to stop during pregnancy?

After nine years of "lighting up," Michelle Marie Alcido, of Houston, Texas, discovered she was pregnant. "As soon as I found out that I was going to have a baby, I threw my cigs away and I was done," she says. And as an added bonus, her husband – a smoker of 15 years – quit, too.

For some women, the knowledge that they are pregnant gives them enough power to quit on the spot. "[The] incentive of the pregnancy made it easy [to quit] most of the time," says Crystal Porter, of Springfield, Ill. "The night I took the home pregnancy test and it showed positive, I pushed the pack away from me and said, 'I quit.'"

For others, dads-to-be included, a gradual approach is more realistic. "[My husband] used the tapering method," Alcido says. "He reduced his smoking by one cigarette every three or four days until he was smoking no more."

A cup of coffee. A can of cola. A glass of wine. Are they really that big a deal?

Content on this site is not a substitute for professional medical or healthcare advice, diagnosis or treatment, and may not be used for such purposes. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical question or condition. Reliance on information presented on this site is at your own risk. This site contains the opinions and views of other users. Given the interactive nature of this site, we cannot endorse, guarantee, or be responsible for the accuracy, efficacy, or veracity of any content generated by our users.