Smoking during pregnancy

Jo

From here on in, and for the rest of her life, Mum is going to sacrifice alot more than her ciggies.
Just be grateful baby wont be born addicted to smack.

Drowned Out

Songburst wrote:

Well during our prenatal classes this topic came up a few times whenever a health care professional was at the class the statement was dismissed and the doctor or midwife invariably said if you smoke a pack a day and you quit today, your baby has a much lower chance of having any birth defects. They said that it is a myth that the stress caused by quitting is potentially worse than the benefits seen by quitting.

this is the common knowledge I was talking about. EVERYONE knows that if you quit today your baby will be healthier. No one is disputing that. Also, moms are encouraged to cut down as much as possible….I think if you’re smoking a pack a day, you’re not making much of an effort, and are likely using the advice as an excuse.
…would you rather take the opinion of two OB/GYN’s and a family practitioner, or a mid-wife/pre-natal teacher? I don’t think it’s a myth, and like I said…if it’s not based in science (which it may be), it’s focused on harm reduction. That probably means they’ve looked at the relapse factor, the affects of trying to quit and failing, the relationship tension between spouses, the guilt, etc etc, and determined that if sneaking the odd smoke helps to reduce the stress of those situations, it's less harmful.

Songburst wrote:

As far as the perception of stress, it depends on how you look at addiction. Typically addicts view addiction as a disease and not a choice and this view is why they usually fail when they try becasue it's so easy to blame a disease. In reality, you don't have to smoke. What if there were no smokes available? Would you die? This is not aimed at you either by any means -- it is just a generalization.

Yes, it’s a choice. You’ve got to realize overcoming a dependancy is not as easy as choosing to do so. Do you have any idea how smug ‘What’s the problem? Just quit!” sounds to an addict? No, smokers wouldn’t die without smokes. Would they be stressed? I bet they would.... Disease or no, making it a choice not to smoke doesn't give a person relief from withdrawl.

facepollution

Get her one of these:

http://www.theelectroniccigarette.co.uk/shop/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WWImxNj ... r_embedded

The Electronic Cigarette is a device that simulates the functions of a cigarette without the harmful chemicals. It uses a small replaceable cartridge filled with a small dose of nicotine and flavoured propylene glycol liquid, utilized and powered by a rechargeable battery. When the user inhales on the device, the air flow is detected by a pneumatic airflow sensor switch. A microprocessor then activates an atomizer which injects tiny droplets of the liquid into the flowing air and vaporises the liquid.

A guy at work has one and swears by it. Plus you can 'smoke' it indoors at pubs, bars etc because it doesn't actually produce smoke.

helplessdancer

bad hype

my mommie smoked during her pregnancy and drank wine and it didnt hurt me as much as when she dropped me on my head

Heineken Helen

emptyglass wrote:

bad hype

my mommie smoked during her pregnancy and drank wine and it didnt hurt me as much as when she dropped me on my head

fuck, I couldn't even LIST the amount of people I know who smoked and/or drank whilst pregnant... and yet all their kids turned out ok to my knowledge. Of COURSE it's irresponsible in the face of medical stuff... and I would never suggest cigarettes are not bad... but I guess the level of danger depends on which medical expert you talk to... much like the way eggs were bad for us one day, the next they were almost a superfood :roll:

If she's sneaking cigarettes (like many said) she's already feeling shit and knows she's doing wrong. Then she has the other half (who's not going through all this body stuff with her) lecturing her... that just makes things more stressful. How about setting goals for her? Say you'll do a certain percentage MORE of housework if you KNOW she's not smoking... or you'll do everything on a Saturday... or you'll take her to her favourite place.

I've found that quitting smoking HAS to be about the positives... not cos it's a must or cos people are lecturing you... that would be impossible. I've never even considered quitting when my life was anything less than wonderful... you need to be in a great place mentally and emotionally to do it.

ZiggyStar

Oh boo hoo.....poor girl......blah blah blah.....

She just needs to grow some fucking balls and QUIT! :x

How about an update....any progress OP?

catefrances

my biggest fear whilst pregnant was that my kids would grow up to be conservatives. or worse... lawyers.

helplessdancer

Heineken Helen wrote:

emptyglass wrote:

bad hype

my mommie smoked during her pregnancy and drank wine and it didnt hurt me as much as when she dropped me on my head

fuck, I couldn't even LIST the amount of people I know who smoked and/or drank whilst pregnant... and yet all their kids turned out ok to my knowledge. Of COURSE it's irresponsible in the face of medical stuff... and I would never suggest cigarettes are not bad... but I guess the level of danger depends on which medical expert you talk to... much like the way eggs were bad for us one day, the next they were almost a superfood :roll:

today's world is insane. everything causes cancer. is it butter or margarine now?? i completely lost track to the point where i just don't care anymore. oh, tap water is bad too. omg. LMFAO

smoke away i say. i'm living proof that it can be done. like someone said here quitting while already pregnant is prolly worse for your system.

crack cocaine is a different story...nicotine is the same as caffeine IMO

a friend at work is still puffing weed while pregnant. to each their own...

and don'tcha just hate people telling ya what you should do alla the time? i do

catefrances

emptyglass wrote:

Heineken Helen wrote:

emptyglass wrote:

bad hype

my mommie smoked during her pregnancy and drank wine and it didnt hurt me as much as when she dropped me on my head

fuck, I couldn't even LIST the amount of people I know who smoked and/or drank whilst pregnant... and yet all their kids turned out ok to my knowledge. Of COURSE it's irresponsible in the face of medical stuff... and I would never suggest cigarettes are not bad... but I guess the level of danger depends on which medical expert you talk to... much like the way eggs were bad for us one day, the next they were almost a superfood :roll:

today's world is insane. everything causes cancer. is it butter or margarine now?? i completely lost track to the point where i just don't care anymore. oh, tap water is bad too. omg. LMFAO

smoke away i say. i'm living proof that it can be done. like someone said here quitting while already pregnant is prolly worse for your system.

crack cocaine is a different story...nicotine is the same as caffeine IMO

a friend at work is still puffing weed while pregnant. to each their own...

and don'tcha just hate people telling ya what you should do alla the time? i do

got any stats on how many coffee drinkers developed lung cancer from too many lattes???

_Crazy_Mary_

caffeine and nicotine are the same??!!
whoa! coffee is actually GOOD for you, cigarettes are not.

Songburst

Drowned Out wrote:

Songburst wrote:

this is the common knowledge I was talking about. EVERYONE knows that if you quit today your baby will be healthier. No one is disputing that. Also, moms are encouraged to cut down as much as possible….I think if you’re smoking a pack a day, you’re not making much of an effort, and are likely using the advice as an excuse.
…would you rather take the opinion of two OB/GYN’s and a family practitioner, or a mid-wife/pre-natal teacher? I don’t think it’s a myth, and like I said…if it’s not based in science (which it may be), it’s focused on harm reduction. That probably means they’ve looked at the relapse factor, the affects of trying to quit and failing, the relationship tension between spouses, the guilt, etc etc, and determined that if sneaking the odd smoke helps to reduce the stress of those situations, it's less harmful.

Yes, it’s a choice. You’ve got to realize overcoming a dependancy is not as easy as choosing to do so. Do you have any idea how smug ‘What’s the problem? Just quit!” sounds to an addict? No, smokers wouldn’t die without smokes. Would they be stressed? I bet they would.... Disease or no, making it a choice not to smoke doesn't give a person relief from withdrawl.

After experiencing the birth of 2 kids (I'm a guy BTW so I was the support not the person who did the actual work) I would 100% take the word of a mid-wife over a family practitioner regarding birthing and babies health and I would have serious reservations about taking the advice of an OB-GYN over that of a mid-wife. Maybe it's different where you live but where I live the mid-wives we used are amazing and birthing babies is what they know.

I don't care how smug it is to say just quit. It is what it is. Just do it. I probably have a handful of smokes a year which I enjoy while drinking. It's a great vice but it sure tastes and smells awful the next day.

catefrances

_Crazy_Mary_ wrote:

caffeine and nicotine are the same??!!
whoa! coffee is actually GOOD for you, cigarettes are not.

plus red bull gives you wings.. and who doesnt want to fly??

PearlJamDowner

This whole thing is making me sick to my stomach. She goes into the bathroom to smoke, she knows I know. she hides them in there and I count how many she is having....15 today......this is causing me major anxiety where I can barely sleep. It's all I think about all day. I read more stuff online about it which causes me panic. I just don't know how I can feel at peace with all of this. Can anyone give me some advice on how to deal with this. Her first kid she smoked with...who is 15 now is ok so it almost seems like she believes because that kid is fine, this one will be too. The fact that her smoking can be hurting my child is extremely upsetting and not to mention damaging to the relationship. If something bad were to happen how can I get over something like this. This is the reason I wanted her to stop smoking first than get pregnant...that is why we PLANNED the pregnancy. I knew emotionally I couldn't handle her smoking while pregnant with my baby.

PearlJamDowner

I have been actually picturing the baby suffering in the womb and I get fucking hot flashes through my whole body. I knew I couldn't handle this bullshit.

redrock

PearlJamDowner wrote:

I have been actually picturing the baby suffering in the womb and I get fucking hot flashes through my whole body. I knew I couldn't handle this bullshit.

OK... this is going to sound harsh and you may think I'm a bitch but you are a bit of a drama queen here and it seems you need as much help as she does (but in different ways). This thread is full of advice, thoughts and experiences. Work with it. She has an addiction issue (physical and psychological) that she needs to sort out WITH HELP. Shoving her face in it will not help as she already knows it's not right (she is hiding to smoke). She knows you are checking on her behind her back and that doesn't help to open communication lines to try and sort out this problem. Just looking at your last two posts seem to suggest you are concerned about YOUR feelings and wallowing in your misery... 'causing ME panic', 'causing ME major anxiety' 'making ME sick', 'I couldn't handle', etc. Snap out of it and think about her feelings/what she is going through. Hormones are all over the place, pregnancy is not something women sail through automatically. If everytime you 'talk' about it you are being judgemental, confrontational and expressing how YOU feel and how she is wrong and being a bad mother to be, it's not going to give her the support she needs to quit or reduce her smoking. A bit of empathy would go a long way...

Now I will wait for people to throw things at me.

TravisTheSky

All of the replies I've read seem to deal with whether a woman should smoke or not. If quitting is too overwhelming, how about convincing her to remove all other toxins the foetus might be exposed to? For example, not eating processed/genetically engineered food. Not taking alcohol and caffeine. Not consuming preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colourings, flavourings, etc. Limiting exposure to magnetic fields and electronics like computers, big screen TVs and mobile phones. Using a reverse-osmosis filter to remove chlorine and fluoride from the water.

I've heard that some cigarettes claim to be made only of tobacco. They do not contain additives like benzene, arsenic, and whatnot. That could be worth looking into. (When I enjoyed the hobby of smoking, I used a common brand-name. So I have no experience with any other cigarette.)

Oh, don't forget the great things a woman can add: Western populations are severely deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. Flax/linseed is the best mercury-free source of these. Natural sunlight is the best source of vitamin D, and walking outdoors in the fresh air is one of the safest aerobic exercises. All three (Omega-3s, sunlight, and walking) are often considered natural cures for depression.

If she is considering taking a flu shot, go to http://www.fda.gov and read the package inserts for the various vaccines offered this year. They are labelled as Pregnancy Category C! They have never been tested on pregnant women or unborn children or nursing mothers. Here are direct quotes from the insert for Sanofi Pasteur's Fluzone and its Influenza A H1N1 2009 monovalent: " have not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or for impairment of fertility."
"It is not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproductive capacity."

polaris_x

do you guys have a good relationshiop? ... i didn't read anything but maybe her smoking is really her way of getting back at you for something ... just something to consider ...

the problems with smoking manifests itself in many ways - it's not just the obvious ... if you're dating a smoker - you have to accept all that comes with that ... some people really have no interest in quitting ...

pandora

redrock wrote:

PearlJamDowner wrote:

I have been actually picturing the baby suffering in the womb and I get fucking hot flashes through my whole body. I knew I couldn't handle this bullshit.

OK... this is going to sound harsh and you may think I'm a bitch but you are a bit of a drama queen here and it seems you need as much help as she does (but in different ways). This thread is full of advice, thoughts and experiences. Work with it. She has an addiction issue (physical and psychological) that she needs to sort out WITH HELP. Shoving her face in it will not help as she already knows it's not right (she is hiding to smoke). She knows you are checking on her behind her back and that doesn't help to open communication lines to try and sort out this problem. Just looking at your last two posts seem to suggest you are concerned about YOUR feelings and wallowing in your misery... 'causing ME panic', 'causing ME major anxiety' 'making ME sick', 'I couldn't handle', etc. Snap out of it and think about her feelings/what she is going through. Hormones are all over the place, pregnancy is not something women sail through automatically. If everytime you 'talk' about it you are being judgemental, confrontational and expressing how YOU feel and how she is wrong and being a bad mother to be, it's not going to give her the support she needs to quit or reduce her smoking. A bit of empathy would go a long way...

Now I will wait for people to throw things at me.

Well not me- I totally agree and my post pages back brings empathy to this young pregnant woman. Maybe thru support and not disapproval she can cut back, maybe not quit but cut back. She and the father to be can be a united loving unit which is the best for the unborn child.

BrinkofForever

I agree with whoever suggested punching her in the throat. Not that I advocate violence towards women, by all means.

helplessdancer

catefrances wrote:

got any stats on how many coffee drinkers developed lung cancer from too many lattes???

the newborn will not develop lung cancer from mommie smoking...which is why i say they are the same.