Smoking while pregnant anyone?

Phatmouse

Hi there,

before you all go mad.

Me and my friend are both pregnant, I am nearly six month she four.

I stopped smoking at about 7 weeks when I found out but she cannot for the life of her stop. I will be honest I find it hard and will probably start agin after giving birth, but I used an inhaler for 6 weeks and now only crave one after dinner.

We were talking about it this morning and her doctor has told her to just cut down to 5 a day. He said that the damage done is misrepresented and for her not to worry too much, this has made her feel fine about the whole thing.

All of the older people I know (my mum, nana, auntys, friend mams) all claim to have smoked to.

Is anyone brave/silly enough to admit they smoked through their pregnancy and what if any effect it had.

Horasio

I smoked until I found I was expecting but I wasn't a heavy smoker. We get enough pollution from fumes anyway, smoker or not.

Obviously in a an ideal world, it is best not to smoke and keep away from traffic

wigginsmum

My sister (manic depressive) smoked all through her pregnancy with no apparent side-effects on her daughter (now 7). Obviously if your friend can give up, that would be best. My birth mother smoked all through her pregnancy with me and I arrived 6 weeks early at 2lbs 4oz and was in intensive care for a while.

skylight

BAD FOR YOU!!!


(Ex-smoker here!)


I smoked with all the way through with the first. Gave up 2 weeks before DD2 was born, didn't smoke at all with DD3 and am not smoking with this one either.

Phatmouse

CCStar wrote:

I smoked until I found I was expecting but I wasn't a heavy smoker. We get enough pollution from fumes anyway, smoker or not.

Obviously in a an ideal world, it is best not to smoke and keep away from traffic

True enough, I have a stop smoking lady who came every two weeks when I first stopped and checked my carbon monoxide levels, they were 16 and every week after that they were 1. Then I went to see my friend who works in a pub I was there for 1 hour and my levels were 6. Granted she said this is about average due to car fumes and such but still it goes to show you.

hankc35

You either respect your child or you dont, if you smoke through pregnancy its just an indicator to the respect you will show your child after it is born. I would start stocking the freezer with mechanically seperated chicken nuggets and turkey twizzlers as soon as you can.

Phatmouse

hankc35 wrote:

You either respect your child or you dont, if you smoke through pregnancy its just an indicator to the respect you will show your child after it is born. I would start stocking the freezer with mechanically seperated chicken nuggets and turkey twizzlers as soon as you can.

Thanks for that.

If you read my post you will see that I don't actually smoke anymore.

Phatmouse

ts_aly2000 wrote:

The only real effect of smoking is that it constricts the arteries reducing blood flow.

Everyday polution as already mentioned up above, is now at levels where it affects us. In the lungs for example, pockets of black carbon and soot collect. This is in non smokers, it's all the crap that we breath.

I live in the countryside and when you go into town it just hits you. It's like some kind of 'urban' smell, and you and I both know that it's pollution.

Smoke away!! But your friend would be highly irresponsible not to cut down at least.

I think so too.

I was really suprised to hear her doctor say to just cut down as the danger not that high. Mine just told me I was quitting and thats that.

The house smells nice, my hair smells good, food tastes better and my partner smokes in the yard without a wimper.

Ted_Hutchinson

According to smoking habits, mothers were divided into three groups: nonsmokers, those who smoked 1-9 cigarettes per day and those who smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day (Table 1). There was a strong relationship with significant linear trend between smoking and all observed birth outcomes except apgar score (Table 2). Significant reductions in birth weight (by 205 g), birth length (by 1.28 cm), head circumference (by 0.38 cm) and chest circumference (by 0.66 cm) were found to be associated with an average daily smoking of 10 or more cigarettes after adjustment was made for potential confounders. Even a smaller number of cigarettes affected foetal growth. Infants born by mothers who throughout pregnancy smoked 1-9 cigarettes per day (mean 4.07, range 1-8) weighted significantly less (by 89 g) and had head circumference significantly smaller (by 0.23 cm) in comparison with infants born by mothers nonsmokers. Inconsistent smoking during pregnancy had no significant effect on foetal growth with the exception of smaller birth length (by 2.30 cm; p = 0.002) in infants born by mothers who smoked during the second and third trimester. It is possible that the relatively small number of women inconsistent smokers had a bearing on the results. According to the results obtained it seems that either there is no threshold for the effect of smoking on foetal growth, or it is very low. Nevertheless, since the effect of smoking is weaker if the number of cigarettes smoked is smaller it is reasonable to assume that the reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked in pregnancy would serve as prevention irrespective whether the threshold existed or not.

Broken_hearted

Well done on giving up

Phatmouse

Broken_hearted wrote:

Well done on giving up

Thank you, this little one is the only one who could have got me to, it never crossed my mind before. I just hope I can keep it up after she has hatched.