Australian teens are so afraid of birth that they're risking their babies' lives with this dangerous practice that stunts fetal growth.

A 10-year study from Australian National University reveals that expectant teen mothers are so scared of what labor will do to their bodies that they're taking up smoking to reduce the birth weight of their unborn babies.

Smoking while pregnant can cause health complications including a higher stillbirth and miscarriage rate, placental abruption, heart problems and/or birth defects.

Despite the serious health problems that babies with low birth weight face, teen moms see smoking as a way to reduce the damages of labor on their bodies.

Top 4 reasons why Australian teens are smoking during pregnancy:

1. They fear damage to their vagina

According to Simone Dennis, lead author of the study, the girls were more scared of splitting or tearing after hearing older women talking about their birth horror stories.

2. They fear their vagina won't go back to the way it was after birth

They feared that men would reject them for sex in the future, if their vagina tore during birth.

3. They fear weight gain

The majority of the girls were petite to begin with, so the fear of weight gain and not being able to return to their pre-pregnancy bodies was a terrifying prospect.

4. Being petite would be a future asset for female babies

Since society still views petite women as delicate and attractive, the pregnant teens believed that being born smaller would be advantageous to their daughters later in life.

Is this acceptable? Should something to be done to educate these women? You decide.

Source: Daily Telegraph