Smoking while pregnant anyone?

iwanttosave_2

Moving slightly away from smoking, with all the things that mums cant do now, its astonishing that any babies were ever born at all.

Up till a few years ago, mums were encouraged to eat loads of liver because of Iron, now they are told not to eat any. They were told to eat oily fish, now they cant because of mecury levels. No-one took folic acid or vitamin supliments. Mums were told to drink a bottle of stout every day, again for iron, but now no alcohol. No soft cheese, no unpasturised milk, no homemade mayo, no nuts, no paté, no soft ice-cream, no handling animals. How any of us were ever born is amazing.

missk_ensington

iwanttosave- THANK YOU!!! My button doesn;t seem to work, couldn't have summed it up in a better way!

liney

I think you are missing the point. Now that we know better we should act accordingly instead of saying but, but, but..

MegMoo_2

Oh My God - I'm a midwife and I cant believe that anyone would consider it ok. Obviously it's no use getting hysterical over if she cannot give up but it is very very wrong to say that the effects are overated! Smoking through pregnancy can cause major complications, I'm not going to list them as I am sure you are aware. The most common problem is lack of oxygen and nutrients getting to the baby. You can almost always tell the placentas of women who smoke as bits of it have died through lack of oxygen. How do you think that affects the baby. It cant get the oxygen and nutrients it needs.

Low birthweight is itself associated with increased illness and death of babies around the time of their birth. Longterm effects are delays in physical, emotional and intellectual developement

Smoking may not affect the baby but the chances are it will and with an increased risk of stillbirth, death shortly after birth etc- it isnt worth the risk

Congratulations to you by the way - it must not have been easy. Your friend could be referred to a smoking cessation midwife if she wants to stop. They have access to all information and she can even be prescribed patches to help - nicotine is better than the other lethal chemicals in cigarettes. The trouble is she has to want to stop though or it will never work.
Hope that helps and good luck with the birth etc

Petal_3

I'm not being judgemental at all here. Why don't you suggest to your friend that she whilst she smokes a cigarette she visualises her unborn baby surrounded by cigarette smoke and inhaling it. I've suggested it to a couple of people and it's worked. It's worth a go.

I wouldn't smoke and didn't drink alcohol during my pregnancy. Had there been anything at all wrong with my DS I would have blamed myself (regardless of whether it was related or not).

Good Luck!
~x~

Ted_Hutchinson

iwanttosave wrote:

They were told to eat oily fish, now they cant because of mecury levels. No-one took folic acid or vitamin supliments.

Up to date advice for pregnant mums can be found at The Food Standards however the amount of supplemental vitamin d suggested for people not getting direct exposure to sunlight is wholly inappropriate. This research indicates you need about 4,000 units of vitamin D a day. These Nutritional vitamin D status during pregnancy: reasons for concern ... researchers are currently using 4000iu daily in research with pregnant mums to identify the benefits regarding baby size, maturation, ease of birthing and lowering the risk of depression. If is sunny and your pregnant there's still plenty of time to improve your vitamin d status for free by stripping off and getting outside right now.

missk_ensington

MegMoo I completely agree with you in relation to smoking, I stopped because I knew EVERYTHING I ate/drank/breathed was what fed my baby, but I also agree with iwanttosave in relation to all the other stuff about cheese, liver, oily fish, alcohol.... I don't condone drinking alcohol during pregnancy, but I can't see anything wrong with half a guinness with your Sunday dinner once in a while as a little treat. I certainly did, I used to allow myself every couple of Sundays either a half of Guinness or a glass of red wine

Tondella

I look at the effects of smoking through pregnancy on the child as part of my research. The information that doctors have is based on population estimates, i.e. it means that what they say is generally true, but that things can vary for individuals. The research shows that people who's mothers smoked while they carried them are more likely to be obese, more likely to have heart disease and, it now looks like, more likely to have diabetes (all these in later life). All these medical conditions are to be taken seriously, however the key is "more likely", it's not inevitable for every individual.

your friend should make the best effort she can to reduce or stop her smoking during her pregnancy, I think it is slightly discouraging of the doctor to offer the advice he/she offered. There are obviously benefits to your friend's health as well if she can give up smoking, she'll be around for longer in her children's lives. If she's finding it very difficult there is no point in her beating herself up about it, I'd find it difficult to give up chocolate and that's not even addictive! I'm always very impressed when someone tells me they have quit - well done to you.

Tondella

rainbowrisin wrote:

If smokers are more likely to have smaller babies (as the information Ted posted seemed to suggest), why is that a bad thing?

I think the research mentioned on average the smokers' babies were 205g smaller than the non-smokers - isn't 205g about 7oz?

I'm a non-smoker, so the whole smoking when pregnant thing passed me by - I just wonder if anyone can tell me why having a baby that might have been less than half a pound bigger if you hadn't smoked is a bad thing?

small for gestational age babies (i.e. babies who are smaller than you would have predicted, possibly through the effects of smoking) generally have poorer health throughout life. Really it is amazing how it tracks through even to midlife and beyond. For all sorts of things that you would not think related to size/weight. It is a really powerful predictor. Some of it might be associated with other factors that affect birthweight (i.e. social class in turn affecting maternal nutrition, education and health behaviours, etc) but even after you account for these things there remains an effect.

black-saturn

What do you mean by poorer health? My DD1 was 5lb 4 and apart from having a few chest infections when she was a baby she hasn't been ill at all since then. Not even a cold!!! She's 11 and 5ft 7 tall.