Pregnant vaper

[Aroundthetwist44]

Just that really, if you saw a pregnant woman vaping what would your honest opinion be?

I’d be very upset.
I know someone who is fostering (with a view to adopting) a boy of 3 who has a life limiting lung condition caused by his bio mum vaping while pregnant and vaping around him for his first months of life. He is expected not to live beyond 7 years old. 😢

That they are selfish and put their own needs above their child's which is not a great start to parenting, I'd not think much of them to be honest!!

I'd inwardly have a judging reaction, and wish they weren't.

then I'd have a word with myself and say:

1 - I know nothing about this person
2 - maybe they've quit a 20 a day cigarette habit and this marks a massive improvement
3 - not every pregnant woman is In a situation to make perfect choices

I'd think what they are doing is wrong and sad.

You never know the full story though, it might be someone who had multiple addictions and has managed to give up other more harmful things but can't stop nicotine. Or who has one puff a week or something.

Ultimately I don't want women's bodies to be policed so although I think smoking in pregnancy is awful, I don't think it should be illegal or anything.

Why the question, OP?

Thanks for the answers so far. I am the pregnant vaper. @CantFindTheBeat and @fearfuloffluff are very close to the mark. I am in recovery from class a substance addiction. 10 years now. I managed to stop smoking by starting vaping. I always feel very judged when pregnant and vaping, but like you both said you never know what is going on for someone at that moment.

Then hats off to you, OP.

Sounds like you've made incredible progress.

Is this your first baby?

I had a friend a long time ago who was coming through an awful, awful addiction and situation. She limited herself to a very small number of cigarettes each day whilst pregnant. Obviously not ideal by anyone's standards, but the absolute best she could do. She had them at home so she wasn't in public.

She has 3 grown up children now and is such a lovely mum and granny, actually.

Can you vape privately so you don't get judged?

Sounds like you are doing so well 💕

The fact you aren't smoking is a huge plus. My cousin is a pregnant vaper and her midwives all said to her at least she isn't still smoking and she's trying.

I think you should be very proud of yourself op.
you’ve done extreme well and have made great step for your child.
whilst this may not be great, you need to take a day at a time and don’t be hard on yourself.

Really? I'm shocked to read this! Even smoking doesn't give this short life expectancy, or drugs. Are there other issues involved? Alcohol is one of the most debilitating factors in development but I've never heard about vaping having these devastating effects. I'm no expert but do have experience with these cases. If this is accurate there will be a focus nationwide, globally wide, which may well be going on.

Sorry, don't mean to sound at all disbelieving, just kids who were brought up in smoking households and then went on to smoke and are still alive, seems like vaping must have more serious repercussions.

I'd be saddened

But there are worse things she could be doing (recreational drugs, actual fags) and - even if I thought it was really unlikely - I'd prefer to believe that this was someone who had pulled themselves back from a worse habit rather than someone reckless and uncaring

How awful and what a wonderful person your friend is

You asked, so I'll answer. I'd certainly judge you, yes. There's a whole host of medical advice against vaping while pregnant.
Of course maybe it's not your fault. You may have gotten pregnant despite using full protection. That still doesn't make any difference to the innocent baby whose health is at risk.

This is going to be a huge issue over the next few years. The girls who can’t get through a school day without vaping aren’t going to suddenly develop willpower when they’re pregnant adults. I expect they think it’s perfectly fine, as it’s sooooo much better than smoking.
Poor babies.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments. This is my 3rd baby. And as a pp has mentioned I have always been honest with midwives who have the same reaction of saying yes keep vaping rather than smoke or relapse.
As for vaping privately, I mostly do, however I have a few friends that I have made in the past ten years that don't know my full history. I find that when I step out for a vape they really judge and I don't want them to know about my recovery etc so never feel I can fully explain myself. That being said the fact that you guys didn't completely judge and made allowances for what might be going on under the surface has put my mind at ease a bit.

If you want a honest answer, I would massively judge you. The fact you've conquered drug addiction and smoking is admirable. Could you not just take that final step?

Aren’t midwives giving out vapes to pregnant women who are currently smokers now? They certainly encourage it as an alternative to smoking.

I wouldn’t judge you one bit OP. Ignore the rabid hatred on MN. Lots of people are just pissed off they can’t look down their noses at smokers anymore and it’s tiresome at best.

This should be in medical journals then as the first recorded case ever.

@Jeannie88 hi, I nearly died as a young child purely due to cigarette smoke. If it wasn't for a machine that helped me breathe when I was very young (7 I think) I 100% would not have survived. Please don't underestimate the effects of smoking on children, it can and does kill.

When I was pregnant I actually took part in a study for the nhs. They provided e cigarettes and support for cessation of smoking.

I was fully addicted to smoking and the ecig really helped cut down. I had a lower nicotine one.

most disposable vapes are 20mg of nicotine which is stronger than some cigarettes.

Anything you can do to reduce the cigs is a bonus. No matter what you do people will judge

@Wheelson agreed.

@Twospaniels I am not sure what this lady was vaping and I suspect she wasn't only vaping, because there is a quite substantial literature showing the relative safety of vaping in pregnancy compared with smoking, and even smoking would not have this effect on a small child. I think there is a misunderstanding somewhere here and it would be the first and most unusual case possible if this was only due to vaping nicotine liquids. Even if it caused an asthma attack, and that's a very big IF, you do not get a progressive lung condition in a 3 year old from being around vape, or indeed smoking nicotine for that matter. I'm very sorry though that this child is ill.

Can I see the medical evidence for this please? As it sounds like a load of utter shite without citation

The main risk from smoking cigarettes in pregnancy is having a lower birthweight baby which has implications for health later on, it may also slightly increase the risk of miscarriage.

Anything which reduces the exposure of carbon monoxide (in cigarette smoke) is better for the baby because it is that deprivation of oxygen that makes babies smaller, it is not the nicotine. Now most recommendations are to take as little nicotine as possible not to relapse to smoking (in patches, in gum, in vapes). The aim is not to smoke combustible cigarettes.

@KermitTheSecond I quite agree.