Women who smoke when pregnant are selfish, irresponsible fuckwits

[MsKLo]

...and so are parents who smoke around their babies/children. I see soooooo many parents pushing prams and smoking or driving and smoking with babies in their car seats etc.

And the number of times I have seen pregnant women having a fag...

Selfish, irresponsible fuckwits

And for the record, I am an ex smoker. I LOVED smoking but stopped before I starte trying for a baby as it was, and is not, fair to inflict my selfish habit on my babies.

Actually, I think she may be ahead of us...

Loopy, don't be harsh....she also knows and uses the word 'irony' a lot too.

What a clever little girl she is. She even knows swear words

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winnybella Sat 08-Jan-11 15:02:35

'Prenatal alcohol exposure is the cause of fetal alcohol syndrome. This condition is caused by excessive amounts of alcohol. A number of studies have shown that light to moderate drinking during pregnancy does not appear to pose a risk to the fetus.[34][35][36][37] The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists conducted a study of over 400,000 women, all of whom had consumed alcohol during pregnancy. No case of fetal alcohol syndrome occurred and no adverse effects on children were found when consumption was under 8.5 drinks per week.[38] A review of research studies found that fetal alcohol syndrome only occurred among alcoholics; no apparent risk to the child occurred when the pregnant women consumed no more than one drink per day.[39] A study of moderate drinking during pregnancy found no negative effects and the researchers concluded that one drink per day provides a significant margin of safety, although they did not encourage drinking during pregnancy.[40] A study of pregnancies in eight European countries found that consuming no more than one drink per day did not appear to have any effect on fetal growth. A follow-up of children at 18 months of age found that those from women who drank during pregnancy, even two drinks per day, scored higher in several areas of development.[41] An analysis of seven medical research studies involving over 130,000 pregnancies found that consuming two to 14 drinks per week did not increase the risk of giving birth to a child with either malformations or fetal alcohol syndrome.[42]'

Just reposting for Leonie

Judge away then pink4ever. But you are displaying a very limited knowledge of human nature so your judgement/opinion in this regard is not one I can respect.

Btw. If anyone should be smug and holier than thou on this topic it should be me, as I have done it once and am doing it for the second time. But I know a little too much about the nature of the beast to assume it was all my own fabulousness wot done it, and have enough humility and empathy not to rub my good luck and good outcomes in others faces.

Seems to me that the OP is being bullied actually. She might be a bit stroppy, and be a bit guilty of over-generalising, but would is it really not possible to put her straight on that without ganging up on her?

OP, I don't think it's possible for anyone to make a cogent argument that smoking during pregnancy is not a selfish thing to do, nor that it is a particularly responsible thing to do. Think you're going a bit far to call all pregnant smokers fuckwits but I can see why people like Pink4ever might come to that conclusion given what she has been through.

I suspect that there are plenty of people who have read this thread who have a lot of sympathy with your point of view but who are put off from posting on this thread in case they attract the same vitriol as you and Leonie. I know that I have been working my way up to it all day.

Eh Idlewild?

Cos the vitriol has all been one way

It hardly takes a brave person to come onto a message board to say Smoking While Pregnant Harms Your Baby. We're all pretty agreed on that point.

OP is right, you are a fuckwit if you smoke while pregnant

Do you think you know better than consultants and peadiatricians Leonie?

A few hours on Google and an a4 folder of printouts is not quite the same thing as 10+years medical training.

No it hasn't. Without going back and checking in any great detail, she's been called thick, accused of being a troll, and called various names.

Also, as far as it being a no brainer that smoking while pregnant harms your baby is concerned, there is at least one individual on this thread who has attempted to lead evidence to the contrary. Same with smoking around your children.

I mean no it hasn't in that the vitriol has certainly not been one way. Far from it in fact.

Yes it has Idlewild. Op states that ALL pregnant women who smoke are 'fuckwits' and it's their own fault if their baby dies. Lots of keyboard warriors chime in to agree. My position is
Don't judge
Smoking is a ADDICTION (look it up if you don't understand)
Please don't blame a bereaved mother for her babies' illness or death
Quicksnap judging makes a person look stupid.

SORRY SORRY I have to take a bit of this back - OP did NOT state it was a mother's own fault if a baby is born with problems. Apologies MsKalo. I meant to press Preview.

Leonie. You are making yourself look ridiculous. A random keyboard warrior vs consultants and peadiatricians intimately involved in altkinmums' childs condition. You should be ashamed.

I've only read the first 100posts or so on this thread, but I would like to say that I am a child of a smoker who smoke all the way through her pregnancy with me. She smoked until I was about 6 and gave up when she was expecting my brother. given this was in the late 70's early 80's and there not being as much information available as there is now. I was not brought up in a hellish home with unloving parents who beat me and my siblings, I was alsway fed and in clean clothes, I wanted for nothing.

Smoking during pregnancy has done me or my younger sister for that matter no harm (I know there are known dangers now due to all the research out there and that mums to be should at least try to cut down), but some people are too quick to judge others IMHO about what they should and shouldn't do in pregnancy.

I have never smoked, so I don't know how hard it is to give up. But I have struggled with my weight for years so I have some understanding of what its like to give up something you are effectivley addicted to. I have much respect for those who do manage to give up. at the end of the day it's their choice make based on the advise available to them.

It's not up to me or anyone else to impart pearls of wisdom to people who probably wouldn't thank me for them. They will already have had all the advice needed from their medical professionals. If they decide to give up then support them, if not mind your own business and keep your opinions to yourself.

Just reading the post from LisMcA, I could be her mum! I'm a grandmother now but I've joined this site because my daughter's just found out she's pregnant with her 3rd and I like to keep abreast of things.

In 1977 I smoked while I was pregnant with my first child, my daughter. Lots of people smoked back then so smoking during pregnancy wasn't really looked upon in the same way as it is now. Incidentally, my daughter weighed 9lb.10oz. at birth, so I often wonder what she would have weighed had I not smoked.

Anyhow, I do agree with most of the ladies here who consider smoking whilst pregnant or with small children to be beyond the pale. It IS selfish (I was selfish) to do it. I wish I hadn't, but it WAS different then because the information just wasn't out there.

For those of you who do smoke, can I just say this: I've seen many people in my family and a couple of friends suffer and die from smoking related diseases. They all thought, like you probably, that it would never happen to them. It did, and that's why I gave up.