Pregnant and giving up smoking

absolutebounder

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

I'm quite shocked by the amount of women who do continue to smoke when pg - surely it's not healthy or advisable for the baby to have a supply of nicotine full stop - be it patch or cigarette!

Despite Nicotine being very toxic (it is one of natures most powerful insecticides and 1 drop on the tongue would kill an adult) It is probably the least of babys worries. Cigarette smoke also contains:
Polonium 210 (remember the russian spy poisoned with this)
Toluene (an industrial solvent banned for use in nail varnish remover)
Arsenic
Hydrogen cyanide (used in gas chambers)
There are plenty of oither nasties as well.

LittleTinker

absolutebounder wrote: »

Despite Nicotine being very toxic (it is one of natures most powerful insecticides and 1 drop on the tongue would kill an adult) It is probably the least of babys worries. Cigarette smoke also contains:
Polonium 210 (remember the russian spy poisoned with this)
Toluene (an industrial solvent banned for use in nail varnish remover)
Arsenic
Hydrogen cyanide (used in gas chambers)
There are plenty of oither nasties as well.

Yes, but nicotine can also be found in some vegetables.....it isnt harmful to us in the small doses we eat/take it in.

Nicotine is actually beneficial........its the tar and gases that are bad for us.....although it is the nicotine that forms the addiction.

Bun

Somebody else mentioned visualising the baby when you have a cigarette. We had a 4d scan and I commented on the effect of the caffeine I'd been asked to drink (on off, I don't drink coffee) on turning the baby round. They said that the baby will squirm and grimace when the chemicals and nicotine hit it. Thought this may help. Good luck.

Nitha

It is worth mentioning that smoking when pregnant is one of the most common links in cases of cot death, as well as smoking around a baby. I think the best 'patch' is the thought that smoking can seriously damage your unborn baby. If smoking became illegal you would have to stop, think of it in the same way.

mykidsmum_2

its really hard to give up smoking, the way I did it when I found out I was pregnant was to buy 10 cigarettes and they were to be the last ones I ever bought, I eeked them out over a week and everytime I had one I did visualise my poor baby and the smoke passing into her. By the end of the 7 days i had 3 left and chucked them away. I was 7 weeks pregnant by then and was really proud of myself for the rest of the pregnancy. Honestly visualization works! (although I did replace cigarettes with chicken baguettes). And also as your body changes and taste and smell changes (I swear I could 'smell' people ) hopefully you will go off them anyway! good luck with your pregnancy!

absolutebounder

LittleTinker wrote: »

Yes, but nicotine can also be found in some vegetables.....it isnt harmful to us in the small doses we eat/take it in.

Nicotine is actually beneficial........its the tar and gases that are bad for us.....although it is the nicotine that forms the addiction.

I dont think I would class nicotine as beneficial unless you need your nervous system irritated.
Nicotine addiction doesnt form the normal pattern of chemical addiction and I do not believe it is chemically addictive to any degree however smoking is psychologically addictive.
Maybe if we fed kids more vegetables they would become addicted to them:rotfl: If nicotine is so addictive why arnt we addicted to veggies?
I do agree about the other nasties though and a real one I forgot was good old carbon monoxide.

Glad

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Sugarhunny1

Evening everyone

I'm a support worker in Perth and Kinross for a new scheme aimed at pregnant woman, If anyone is from this area (or Dundee) then could i ask that you PM me, There is a financial incentive that is paid through the NHS/Council/ASDA to encourage you to stop.

If you want more information then please google "Give it up for baby"

I hope this isnt against any rules on MSE, I have no financial gain from this!

absolutebounder

moneysaving_pharmacist wrote: »

There are no real contraindications to NRT - it is more harmful for the person to smoke than use NRT. Having said that, I would normally go for the 16hr patches for pregnant women if possible.

Would you like to publish the independent statistics on its effectiveness at say 6mths after cessation and 1 year?

Alleycat

moneysaving_pharmacist wrote: »

It is fairly common for 24hr patches to cause sleep problems - numbers from the manufacturer are more than 1 in 10. You can just take the 24hr patches off when you go to bed and put the next one on in the morning.

There are no real contraindications to NRT - it is more harmful for the person to smoke than use NRT. Having said that, I would normally go for the 16hr patches for pregnant women if possible.

I was told by my midwife that the patches I'd started using were in fact worse for me than continuing to smoke given the strength of the cigarettes and amount I smoked