Smoking while pregnant anyone?

bella4uk

Out of curiousity...does anyone know which is worse being pregnant and having a fast food diet drinking loads of cola coffee etc or someone who eats well but smokes?

Phatmouse

bella4uk wrote:

Out of curiousity...does anyone know which is worse being pregnant and having a fast food diet drinking loads of cola coffee etc or someone who eats well but smokes?

I would be interested to know. I saw a thing once where a woman in Liverpool was questioned as to why her daughter had so much salt in her system. They thought she was trying to kill her, turn out she was not bright enough to know you could kill someone that way and had in fact been weaning her on liquidized Mcdonalds chips!

I honestly would say a constant diet of fast food and full fat coke would be worse that smoking as you get the carbon monoxide for other sources wether you smoke or not, not the occassional take away though. However the baby relises on you to give it all the vitamins it needs to grow healthy. Ocviously neither is desireable but hyperthetically, thats my answer.

msmicawber

I don't know whether fast food would be worse. I think the problems with smoking are that it reduces the amount of oxygen going around in the blood and affects the circulation, which means the growing baby gets less oxygen, and that the other toxins like cynaide etc. can cross the placenta and, because the baby's so small, the effect is greater.

Ted_Hutchinson

msmicawber wrote:

I don't know whether fast food would be worse. I think the problems with smoking are that it reduces the amount of oxygen going around in the blood and affects the circulation, which means the growing baby gets less oxygen, and that the other toxins like cynaide etc. can cross the placenta and, because the baby's so small, the effect is greater.

It looks to me as if the effects of trans fats are worse than smoking.

Details of how it adversely affects the developing baby can be found at TFX ORG

I was worried enough about declining omega 3 levels and the impact this is having on the mental health of children. When I saw the research showing that trans fat occupies the space in the brain that would otherwise be taken by omega 3 DHA long chain fatty acid, I realised that it is pointless me telling folk to take more fish oil supplement and eat sardines in tomato sauce if they are then going straight to the local fast food emporium to indulge in yummy foods with a high trans fat content. As you see these things pass straight into the developing baby and so if you want a baby with the potential for maximum possible brain power, the last thing you need is trans fat that blocks the uptake of omega 3 essential fatty acids, both directly while in the womb and later through the milk.

Trans fats in the brain are as useful as a dead pixel on your screen or a bad sector on your hard disk. The more you have the less efficiently you perform. While you can work off the excess fat under your skin I doubt there is any way of shifting the ones inside your brain or your babies brain.

Trans fat, hydrogentated and partially hydrogenated fats are probably responsible for 5,000 - 20,000 people dying prematurely every year in the UK, or 15 - 60 people every day and this is only with regard to coronary heart disease if you add on it's impact on Alzheimer disease and cognitive decline it's a far greater threat than food contaminants or pesticide residues.

msmicawber

It's horrifying, isn't it. In a way, I'm quite grateful that we've been so skint over the years that I virtually always cook from scratch so have given my children very few processed foods. I've always refused to use margarine or any of those spreadable butters as I was always deeply suspicious of what they contained. The more I find out about trans fats, the more glad I am that I avoided them.

gundo

A relative of mine smoked all the way through pregnancy. The child was born underweight and premature. This child now also has severe Autism (it's a teenager now).

Probably a statistical quirk...

Yeah right.

Just my 2p worth... But how can anyone be so selfish as to subject an unborn child to nicotine etc. ?

fruitcake_2

Pregnancy complications
Some of the pregnancy complications more commonly experienced by women who smoke include:

Ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus – usually in the fallopian tube)
Foetal death (death of the baby in the uterus)
Spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)
Problems with the placenta, including early detachment from the uterine wall and blocking the cervical opening (placenta previa)
Premature rupture of the membranes
Premature labour

Effects on the foetus
Every time a pregnant woman smokes a cigarette, her unborn baby is deprived of oxygen and exposed to the same cocktail of chemicals, including chemicals which cause cancer.

Some of the many damaging effects of cigarette smoke on the foetus include:
Reduced oxygen supply due to carbon monoxide and nicotine
!!!!!! growth and development
Increased risk of cleft lip and cleft palate
Increased heart rate and disruption of the baby’s breathing movements in the womb due to the effects of nicotine....why take the risk??!

DianeM

If your baby was born with a defect could you hand on heart say you played no part in it. The guilt would be bad enough - I am aware that babies are still born with defects even when parents do everything right. Think about it.
Before anyone quotes on this - I do have a birth defect and have to live with it.

LilMissEmmylou

the way i see it is if your child was born with a problem and you knew you could have prevented it, how would you feel? I wasnt willing to take that risk with my baby (i didnt smoke) so i wouldnt go into smokey bars, or eat anything with nuts and got my 5 a day etc.

As for after the birth - if it spurs you on at all, a parent smoking can lead to the child being unhealthy and having breathing diffiulties, alergies etc. So by not smoking you save money, your health and your childs

LilMissEmmylou

DianeM wrote: »

If your baby was born with a defect could you hand on heart say you played no part in it. The guilt would be bad enough - I am aware that babies are still born with defects even when parents do everything right. Think about it.
Before anyone quotes on this - I do have a birth defect and have to live with it.

I only just seen your post - i look like a spoon typing a smiliar thing great minds think alike and all that :beer: