to not understand how a very obviously pregnant woman

[MrsFruitcake]

can smoke in the street so brazenly?

Saw a woman yesterday, looked quite far along, smoking as she was walking along the street - I just don't know how anyone can be so blah about it these days.

There was a really sad post on a thread about judging pregnant woman drinking about a woman who found out her baby was very sick and definately going to die at birth so started smoking again.

I try very hard not to judge pregnant strangers.

I don't know anything about them or what's happened.

YAWN, OP. Find something else to BU about. Loadsa stuff. All sorts going on on the middle east you could concern yourself with........

Crawling. You have completely bought the lie that smoking is something which has a positive effect (reducing stress) so you are fearful of stopping because you fear the results of additional stress. In your case I don't blame you at all for avoiding additional stress. However your doctors have sold you a lie. They have convinced you that stopping will be stressful and detrimental to your health, or they have reinforced your existing belief that it is so. In fact smoking does not relieve stress, it causes it. If your doctor had given you the confidence to feel you could stop with no ill effects then you could certainly do so. But you believe it to be stressful and dangerous and so it becomes. A shame for you.

Just like the teen mum in that BBC3 programme last week who told her MW that she thought the baby would end up having a stronger heart because when she smoked, the baby's heart had to work harder .

Smoking can easily be given up; you just live in an en-suite room for a couple of weeks with someone to bring you food and drink and you don't take fags with you.

"I was asked if I smoked at my booking in appointment, I said I did not. I was then asked to blow into a carbon monoxide detector a bit like a peak flow monitor. The midwife confirmed that they do this to check people are telling the truth if they say they are non smokers."

As a non-smoker I would have told any midwife to fuck off if she felt it neccessary to test whether I was lying or not.

Yes - me too widow. You do not have to do that.

I didn't really mind tbh. I had admitted to being an ex smoker who gave up just before I got pregnant with DS so she may have presumed I had started again afterwards (I didn't). She did also say that they had identified a couple of people who had faulty boilers as well that way, as their carbon monoxide readings were too high (should be 0%) and their boilers were the cause.

Of course I judge. It looks horrible, it is horrible.

Thank you EricNorthernsMisstress I keep trying to read success stories of people like me who give up we have a much lower rate 1/10 I think. You are correct the smoking which started as a stress reliever now causes stress and makes things worse, hence why I need to give up but the act of giving up is what will trigger stress as the dopamine and neuro transmiters levels (which in my brain are raised by smoking) are knocked out of wack it causes symtoms to emerge. Yes it increases stress (the cravings for e.g) and when I am back on meds giving up would be best for me and help me to remain stable but giving up without meds would trigger a already sensitive environment to go hay wire which will make me ill. Or at least it was explained something like that so smoking doesnt keep me stable but giving up will make me unstable untill it is out of my system when I will become more stable but I cant risk that atm.

I want to give up and I am sure I will get there sooner or later hopefully sooner and I am early pg and have cut down a great deal while watching for symtoms so maybe I will do it soon .

I'm sure you'll get there soon crawling. I'm not saying I cannot sypathise (although I've never even put a cigarette to my mouth) and can see how you have gotten into an unfortunate situation where by giving up, is harder for you at the moment than not giving up.

And it's not like you're saying "I don't give a toss" unlike some mums who really do not care.