to think "no actually, the stress of stopping smoking won't be worse for your unborn baby than you smoking"

[UphillBothWays]

I'm fed up with hearing this as an excuse for continuing to smoke in pregnancy! I've heard people say this in real life, on TV, and now Stacey Solomon is claiming her doctor OK'd her smoking too.

Yes, quitting smoking is hard, but don't claim it's better for your baby to be exposed to carbon monoxide, cyanide and nicotine fgs.

I would have a lot more sympathy if they said "I know it's awful and I'm trying my hardest to stop but I'm struggling and have slipped up"

And, ffs, stop believing this third-hand smoke bullshit.

There isn't one properly done study out there that proves it's harmful. At least definitely not more harmful that all the shampoos, creams, cleaning stuff etc you use every day.

Yeap youre Spot on winnybella- obesity while pregnant isn't good either. And smoking AND being obese and pregnant =doubly bad
(Because It's self delusion that smoking keeps you thin, most of the smokers I see these days are right lard arses)

Also there is plenty of research showing that stress is very harmful to a foetus. A quick go on Google shows that, and not all woo sites either.

My point was, callmemrs, is that I have never seen a thread on MN about obese pg woman stuffing her face with fast food, but plenty about pg women smoking.

Wonder why is that

I used to push my pram along a main road, carbon monoxide central, DD probably was more exposed to pollution doing that from by me smoking!

Well start one if you want winnybella.
I don't really understand your point

Op raises a certain issue about something which sounds very unreasonable (and implausible). You counter that by asking why she doesn't start a thread about something else which is also unhealthy and revolting.

No, I am not asking her why she is not starting a thread about pg women with unhealthy eating habits

It's just that it's always about smoking...pg women and smoking. Ad nauseum.

Nevermind

YANBU. Smoking is horrible.

The advice given out is still less than 5 is not dangerous or damaging to the baby.

I've given up because I'm pregnant but personally get really sick of people wittering on about smoking. Some people are very highly addicted to nicotine, albeit psychologically or not and I can understand why stress and high blood pressure caused by trying to quit could possibly be damaging to the baby. I think pregnant women who smoke need support and education not guilt thrown at them which in turn can make it harder to quit.

I am an ex-smoker who stopped when I had my implant taken out and started TTC. That's 6 years ago now. I always swore I'd never smoke while pregnant.

I wouldn't judge any other mother for doing so though, no matter how much I don't like it.

Stress can cause significant harm to a baby. There is one study out that shoes it can actually have an epigenetic effect that results in schizophrenia. For centuries doctors and midwives have known that a stressed out prenant woman often has a difficult baby and now modern research has demonstrated that this is because of the effect of cortisol on the developing foetus. It is not to be underestimated.

Giving up smoking is like learning to drive. For some people it's easy. For many it takes a bit of effort but is doable. For some it is nigh-on-impossible. Just because I found it easy to give up, doesn't mean another woman would. Having seen the self-loathing some women inflict on themselves while pregnant and smoking, society's condemnation is a mere walk in the park in comparison. But sometimes that self-loathing will be masked by a defiant 'I-don't-care' attitude as a form of self-protection against the 'you are an awful selfish mother' judginess.

Finally, where do we draw the line? If the pregnant woman deserves condemnation for smoking, what about the man on cholesterol tablets who hasn't changed his diet, or the diabetic who's developed type II as a result of a poor lifestyle? How many of us can in all honesty say we've lived a life that ensures our own physical well-being through optimum diet and lifestyle - let alone that of another inside us for 9 months. In a situation where you have to choose the survival of either mother or baby, who do you choose? This is a highly complex ethical issue and is about far far more than whether a mother is selfish for smoking or not.

Yanbu - it's fucking disgusting and selfish of women to smoke when pg. I used to smoke and never thought I could give up but I did when we decided to try for a baby. I have no respect or sympathy for women who smoke when preg. It is a scummy thing to do and show zero care for the unborn child. It may be none of my business if someone does it but I sure as hell will judge women who smoke when pg for it.

A friend has told me she was told the same thing by her OB.

Doctors do say it, I think. Especially private OBs, who have more of a "customer service" thing with their patients, rather than a "be healthier so that you don't cost the NHS more money than you need to" thing.

I found it v difficult to watch my friend smoke through her pg, but, people do it.

I do find it a bit painful when the pregnancy police come down like a tonne of bricks though. Where I am, for example, caffeine is considered a cardinal sin for pg women... I have seen pearls being clutched by my friends when I enjoy my single daily cup of instant coffee.

It's my body and my baby. If I aborted my child, no-one would dare tell me I was wrong to do so... but then, if I smoke a cigarette, everyone's up in arms? Odd.

Christ, I'm glad I didn't know you when I found out I was expecting DD2. I was already at rock bottom, and I doubt I could have taken any more criticism.

sunshineandbooks fantastic post!

As the Mum of an adopted child who was subjected to 60 a day whilst his birth mother was carrying him, I have a problem with women smoking whilst pregnant. I also have a problem with women drinking whilst pregnant... my daughter has FAS.

When will women realise that once they are carrying a child, their body is no longer just theirs?

My two youngest children are living proof that disregarding the harm that you can do when you are pregnant through poor lifestyle and health choices can lead to lasting damage to your child .

I'm a pregnant, lardarse smoker. It's not even a few a day, more like 20.

I tried to quit twice. I thought it'd be easy, because I quit for over a year once.

I actually found myself afraid of missing my crutch. I'm not making excuses. I could have tried harder.

I keep telling myself I'll quit before the baby's born at least, but I doubt I will.

You know what I can't stand, all those parents that over dress there babies, don't use cellular blankets but those thick quilted or thick woollen ones even when inside a warm home, and keep hats on newborn babies heads, I mean don't they know there babies will all die from cloth death.

Where do you find the time to smoke 20 cigarettes a day? I can't fit in three meals!

Women should try to quit or cut down while pregnant certainly, but here's an interesting fact for all you do gooders out there who are quoting for death statistics at the smokers, did you know that breastfeeding reduces the risk of cot death by around the same amount as not smoking vs smoking?
I think we should all stop judging one another. Whatever choices we make while pregnant, be they organic veg, cutting out caffeine, not standing in front of the microwave or even (dare i say it) formula feeding, etc etc, it's our body, our choice, and frankly no fucker else's business.

Everyone knows its wrong to smoke in pregnancy. Those who do smoke in pregnancy know its wrong but probably try justify it with the whole "stress" excuse because it helps ease their guilt maybe? Haven't read the stacy article is the purpose of the article about the smoking in pregnancy?

When I was in hospital it used to make me cringe to see heavily pregnant women waddling down to the entrance in their dressing gowns for a smoke!

If your a drug addict or drinker and are pregnant social services usually get involved. Although smoking is not as harmful you are inflicting something harmful on an unborn child, how can that be justified?

How can you argue with scientific facts that it harms your baby?

I don't know what's worse women who play ignorant and say things like "I smoked in other pregnancies and my babies were fine" or the ones who acknowledge its wrong but still continue anyway?

If your planning a baby why not give up before you conceive so the "stress" is not an issue and if u find out your pregnant why not just stop for your babies sake?

sunshineandbooks made a brilliant post about nicotine addiction earlier. Please read it.

Typed whilst outside smoking.

Would you give a cigarette to a newborn baby lest they have withdrawal stress or whatever the excuse is? Yes I judge.

Ah... there's the old "Our body, our choice" again... except it's not just your body any more is it? Not if there's another person growing inside you.

The stress thing is a red herring. There is NO benefit to anybody gained from smoking. It's a poisonous activity. However there seems a determination on the part of smokers to pretend it is both benign and beyond their control because 'it's an addiction'. Well bollocks to that.

Smokers are harming their dcs and themselves. There are no side benefits to this, just harm. The pregnant Macdonalds eating woman was at least gaining calories which every person needs. There are better ways to get them sure but there is at least that benefit. What does the pregnant smoker gain? Toxins in the body which are transmitted to the baby. Completely and totally unecessary and harmful.

There is no excuse.