Mother Smokes Cigarettes and Baby Swallows Them

Israel provides new proof that cigarette smoking has a bad effect on children.

A woman took her baby, age 18 months, to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa  Saturday night after the toddler chewed up and swallowed two cigarettes.

The mother had left the room and left a package of cigarettes on the table. When she returned, she discovered two filters on the table.

The doctors examined the baby to make sure there were no ill effects from the nicotine, and the baby was released from the hospital after several hours.

“Chewing tobacco can cause vomiting, changes in blood pressure, rapid pulse, incapacitation and even death, said Prof. Yedidya Bentor of the Rambam Institute on Poison. He said eating cigarettes by children is not common.

It is not known if the mother decided to give up smoking following the incident.