Pregnant women should take 'smoking test': what do you think?

I took the test. I was asked to take it to check my CO2 levels. I don't see a problem with that.

I get that. But while a woman is pregnant I think that she should take the best care of herself possible and I don't see why she wouldn't.

And no, I never smoked whilst TTC or pregnant. But I'd tell anyone who tried to coerce me into this test where to go in no uncertain terms because it presumes I am a liar.

De-personalising all women to 'Mum' and you can treat them as incubators on legs. That's what is already being done in the system, women are people not just 'Mum'.

Where are you getting your statistics Offred? I would love to read them. The majority may be "unharmed" (which I find doubtful) but there's that minority you speak of that will be harmed and I don't understand how anyone could ethically risk that.

Expat, I didn't say that anywhere. I just think as a mum, quitting the cigarettes would be a small price to pay for the privilege of bringing a child into the world.

I will say it again the vast majority of babies born to women who are classified as smokers because they have smoked in pregnancy are fine. This means women are already behaving in a way that doesn't pose a risk to their babies without being tested.

Posted that before I saw previous posts.

You can't possibly exclude risk in pregnancy but there are some things that are unavoidable - like the things you listed. If you can cut down risk to your baby by stopping smoking then I would wonder why you haven't done so already.

And Frebbie, I agree with you but when a woman is pregnant it's not only her body she's responsible for. I think that would mean taking a bit more care over it.

Because 'mum' isn't a human being with her own identity. She's just 'mum'.

It is obviously better if you don't smoke or drink or eat cheese or cross the road or get in a car at all but as the pregnant person you have to decide for yourself what risks you are going to accept and how you are going to deal with them. I don't think it should be as black and white as smoker=naughty. Women who smoke would benefit from cutting down or giving up undoubtedly but they need support not judgement.

And yes, cutting down does help but not to the extent you think. As a smoker, your body is extremely sensitive to the first doses of nicotine in the day. The nicotine narrows mum's blood vessels all around her body, including the ones in the umbilical cord, the baby's only source of oxygen. Like trying to breathe through a straw. Then, the red blood cells that are supposed to carry oxygen to your baby pick up carbon monoxide instead, meaning that the straw that baby is already breathing through isn't even holding as much oxygen as it should.

Cutting down helps, but the first doses of nicotine that mum inhales still do this to her baby.

Getting into a car, crossing the road, eating, owning a cat, all risk harm to the baby. You cannot exclude the possibility of risk in pregnancy and whilst I don't smoke having the occasional cigarette during pregnancy is not a very significant or worrying risk to the baby.

Because, Flutterby, women have freedom of choice and autonomy over their own bodies.

And to do anything which diminishes this is starting down a dangerous road that I for one am anything but comfortable with.

I understand that Offred but my point was how can you allow yourself to risk harming your baby? When I got my BFP my only thought was "oh my god, what have I done to my baby?" I'm 18 years old and as you can imagine I had been drinking regularly (more often than I'm proud of - verging on an alcohol addiction), chain smoking and I even tried weed in the two months I was pregnant without knowing it. I just don't understand mums-to-be who can drink and smoke "in moderation" without a second thought to how much it could possibly be harming their little one.

If is it 21% of pregnant women do some smoking it is true that the majority of their babies are not very badly damaged by it.

This plan is so bad precisely because it treats it as all or nothing and it will deter women from going to antenatal care and/or seeking support with smoking in pregnancy. It will create more problems.

A lot of people living on stressful situations find it very hard to give up. Cutting down does help. I'm not a smoker btw.

Smoking does increase the risks of harm. Those risks are increased the more you smoke. All I meant was that being a smoker/non smoker is not the sole defining fact.

I was harmed by it. low birthweight, lots of illnesses, almost all because of my compromised respiratory system. I still have chronic sinusitis and upper respiratory infections regularly. I hate smoking in every level.

my mum smoked through pg, and all my childhood I was a secondary smoker through both of my parents' non-stop smoking.
they say they had no idea how badly it could effect a baby/child/anyone. well it made me very ill, many times.

I think a fetus does have a right to be given the best possible start in life.
If smoking didn't harm a baby why do smokers feel guilty?

But then how can you be happy if you're risking your baby's health? I smoked around 20 a day when I fell pregnant (unplanned) and quit on the spot when I got my BFP. I just don't understand how the risk of harm to your baby is worth a cigarette.

Futterby - because it is a risk of harm not a harm and because cigarettes are addictive and most pregnancies not planned and are a stressful time. For a lot of smokers reducing is a triumph and for most women and babies the babies won't be harmed.

How can you be happy with yourself if a choice you're making to your own body is harming your baby though? I just don't understand that at all. Speaking as a pregnant woman.

If a pregnant woman smokes, she smokes. So what?

I am fully supportive of maternal rights. I don't believe the fetus has any rights whatsoever and I think that pregnant women should have complete autonomy over their bodies.

"No" is a complete sentence. So is "stick your fucking test up your fucking arse"! I know I have never smoked, and I don't care if anyone else believes me. Nobody will be getting me to blow into anything. Period!

I had this at my booking in appointment in 2010! I assumed it was standard practice. I've never smoked. It wouldn't have occurred to me to object though, I assume it would also pick up excess carbon monoxide from other sources.

Agree Breathe. Maybe there should be an IQ test for pregnant women too, so stupid people are monitered?