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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

One in ten smoke in pregnancy

294 replies

SoTheMoon · 18/07/2017 13:16

AIBU to be totally shocked by this?

I honestly thought it was much, much lower. Government target announced today is to get it down to 6%.

OP posts:
HipsterHunter · 18/07/2017 22:49

I'm glad I don't smoke because I haven't even got the willpower to give up biting my nails.

NewRug · 18/07/2017 23:08

I do think there is a difference between giving up or trying to give up than seemingly not giving a shit.

Puffing in between labour pains either shows a lack of trying or something more serious, that would prompt further intervention from authorities, I would hope!

As a smoker, and someone who occasionally smoked whilst pregnant, I feel shame, and took as many steps as possible to quit.

I find it more alarming about the unknown statics about people, who are equally addicted to smoking as I am, it's definitely not 1 on 10. It's more.

Pure hatred and judgement from people just hides the problem, we are addicts and we lie!

The whole smoking in pregnancy debate is so badly managed, statistics mean nothing, it's not representative of reel life

HeteronormativeHaybales · 19/07/2017 06:47

This is a very polarised debate.

I think some baby deaths are precipitated by smoking in pregnancy. No point pretending otherwise. I think I have read (it may have been on the Lullaby Trust website and I know they are not necessarily the most impartial of organisations, but they do work with proper figures) that up to two-thirds of SIDS cases may be preventable if nobody smoked during or after pregnancy. Babies of mothers who smoked may succumb to chest infections or similar because of the previous damage to their lungs, where otherwise they might have recovered.

As far as 'dangerous middle-class pursuits like co-sleeping' go - bedsharing (technically not the same as co-sleeping) can be dangerous if done in an unplanned way or when risk factors are present (one of which is, ironically, smoking). Done safely and awarely, there are even suggestions that it may be protective against SIDS. But - much like the alcohol in pregnancy debate - health authorities tend to assume women will be too thick to distinguish between safe and unsafe bedsharing and put out scaremongering messages.

The author of Expecting Better - whom nobody could accuse of having a misogynistic judgy agenda - suggests some alcohol and caffeine, for instance, is fine, but comes out unequivocally against smoking.

I do think we are harder on women than on men, and on pregnant women than on others, for perceived failings, though. There is some legitimacy in the argument that they are responsible for another human being, but I absolutely can understand (and to a degree share) the unease at that because of its potential to help roll back the very fragile gains women have made in terms of being recognised as autonomous beings. And I do think there are classist attitudes mixed up in all this.

HeteronormativeHaybales · 19/07/2017 06:50

And FWIW, my dc3 was tiny (just over 2.5kg), but healthy, at term plus 10. All my dc were small, the biggest being a shade over 3kg, but she was the smallest. Dh and I are small, so it's no wonder. I was and am a non-smoker and very strict about keeping away from smoke but was asked if I had smoked during pg - presumably because low birth weight otherwise unexplained (technically my dd just escaped this categorisation) is very common among smokers.

ZaphodBeeblerox · 19/07/2017 06:54

I used to smoke, switched to nicotine gum a few years ago and finally stopped because we were TTC. Smoking is very very addictive and hard to give up. My DH flatly refused to start TTC unless I quit, noting that if I couldn't quit now I'd find it v v difficult amid pregnancy / hormones etc.
Glad I did and now pregnant 20 weeks after a late loss last year. But I don't find this figure surprising given how difficult it is to quit, especially when coping with heightened stress of pregnancy.

That said, amongst my middle-class well educated mid-thirties set of friends only a handful of men still smoke, and no women anymore. Think many people quit when first contemplating TTC.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 19/07/2017 06:58

Babies rarely die because of 'choices' their mothers made. Statistically it's tiny of babies dying due to drug overdose or addiction

This - whilst fags are not great I don't think the odd fag puts a baby in ICU

I think foetal alcohol syndrome is more harmful / my understanding is you need to drink a hell of a lot of that to occur

Gunpowder · 19/07/2017 07:18

I think it's important to note that it benefits us all that women have the full legal right to smoke and do other harmful things to their bodies while pregnant, and that we should be really careful of anything that chips away at that right.

^^This

I hate smoking but we should provide support for women who smoke/drink/do drugs in pregnancy and help them to stop rather than shaming or demonising them. We're women not vessels.

WeMustGetOffTheMountain · 19/07/2017 08:31

"Took as many steps as possible to quit"

Except not actually putting a cigarette in your mouth... Hmm

16middlenames · 19/07/2017 09:00

Support is there, many women choose to ignore it - e.g. The lady who was next to me in hospital last week told the midwife she'd been offered help but chose to decline. I was offered support but the stop smoking appointment clashed with my hours at work so I gave up cold turkey the same day, something I thought I would never manage having been a heavy smoker for 12 years. It's mind over matter I'm afraid, and you're making a really shitty start to being a mother if you can't stop yourself from smoking.

ComputerUserNotTrained · 19/07/2017 09:03

How many steps have you taken towards not being a dick, WeMust?

RyanStartedTheFire · 19/07/2017 09:52

Support is there, many women choose to ignore it - e.g. The lady who was next to me in hospital last week told the midwife she'd been offered help but chose to decline. I was offered support but the stop smoking appointment clashed with my hours
There is 0 support in my area and even less antenatal mental health care. I don't think you're interested in a genuine talk about why people smoke during pregnancy and how it can be combatted though, you're just here to kick people when they're down - making more people hide their smoking and not seek help.

16middlenames · 19/07/2017 10:49

I don't care if it's considered kicking people whilst they're down, you can put your own spin on it to justify it all you like - it's 100% wrong to smoke in pregnancy, if you do then you're failing your unborn child and any medical professional would agree how dangerous it is.

chipscheeseandcurrysauce · 19/07/2017 10:50

It makes me feel sick when I see pregnant women smoking 🤢

16middlenames · 19/07/2017 10:50

And it's bollocks to suggest the stigma stops people coming forward to ask for help, these people give no shits walking into the corner shop with a huge fuck off baby bump asking for 20 fags, it's not shame keeping these people smoking.

elliejjtiny · 19/07/2017 10:54

I thought it would be higher than that. When I was on the antenatal ward before having dc5 I was the only non smoker on the ward.

Alexkate2468 · 19/07/2017 10:57

I think I could be way out of touch here but I've just been thinking about all the people I know (which is a lot) and I can only think of 4 that smoke. I don't see it on a regular basis - only ever when we are out at restaurants etc that have outdoor tables. Where are all these smoking people? I'm glad I don't see it but I had thought there number of people smoking now was drastically lower than it was when I was growing up n the 80s. I saw it all of the time then.

RyanStartedTheFire · 19/07/2017 10:58

I don't care if it's considered kicking people whilst they're down, you can put your own spin on it to justify it all you like - it's 100% wrong to smoke in pregnancy, if you do then you're failing your unborn child and any medical professional would agree how dangerous it is.
You obviously don't actually give a shit about the actual babies in question, you just want something to be outraged about.

it's not shame keeping these people smoking.

No it's not, it's things like not being supported, being in abusive households, going through a shit time in life, ignorance. You don't care about any of that though, you just want to be a cunt to people on the internet.

16middlenames · 19/07/2017 11:01

@RyanStartedTheFire you're being incredibly defensive. In my mind smoking in pregnancy isn't a topic for debate, it's 100% fucking wrong and you can continue to justify it however you want. Maybe I am a cunt, or maybe I'm pregnant with twins and actually give a shit about my unborn babies, but you're a randomer on the internet and I really don't care what you want to call me. You just don't like it that I disagree with you and have resulted to childish name calling instead Wink

I stand by what I've said, and I will not be persuaded that there is any good reason to smoke whilst pregnant.

16middlenames · 19/07/2017 11:02

*resorted

RyanStartedTheFire · 19/07/2017 11:05

I stand by what I've said, and I will not be persuaded that there is any good reason to smoke whilst pregnant.
I agree with this, I've never said I don't. But I'm not narrow minded enough to think that all people have happy snowflake pregnancies and lives. People have problems, people can be selfish. I'm glad you have a life where it's so simple for you. You've been calling people all sorts on here so I think it's a bit rich to call me childish for doing the same. You have nothing to add to the conversation, you're posting the same thing over and over again. Why bother posting if it's just to condemn others?

RyanStartedTheFire · 19/07/2017 11:06

As I said earlier middle you give no fucks about these babies or you'd listen and engage in the conversation of how we can lower these statistics. It's not agreeing with smoking during pregnancy to admit it's a problem that needs to be spoken about and addressed. You're just here to cast stones of judgement.

Emmeline123 · 19/07/2017 11:25

@16middlenames, do you feel the same way about women taking anti-depressants in pregnancy?

Sallystyle · 19/07/2017 11:28

FuckyDuck Spend 8 months being pregnant with a mental health illness that was triggered by the pregnancy. Spend those 8 months so ill you can barely manage to wash or feed yourself. Worry that you won't be able to keep yourself safe because you are so ill you just want to die and you need your family with you so you aren't alone.

Try having panic attacks 24/7 which wake you up constantly and try to imagine being so ill you are struggling just to force yourself to eat. Then imagine trying to deal with an addiction on top of that. I doubt you will be able to imagine it. Cutting down was hard enough, quitting was impossible for me at the time. I didn't have the mental strength to do it. It took all my strength to just live and eat. It was a dark and scary time. I did what I could.

I have forgiven myself for it years ago. My teen son is thankfully fit and healthy. I kept alive, I got better. The outcome could have been worse.

I could read this thread and feel like a really shit person. Selfish, I'm a bad mother etc but I don't. I am just proud I got through that time full stop. I did what I had to do to survive it. I felt bad enough at the time but I will no longer accept that I'm a bad mum or some evil selfish monster. I wasn't.

Capricorn76 · 19/07/2017 11:33

I know of a young woman who had a stillbirth a few months back and she was smoking like a chimney including weed. The results of the stillbirth came back inconclusive. She's pregnant again and still smoking 😡.

Blossomflowers · 19/07/2017 11:34

I was at the hospital the other day and passed a heavily pregnant woman puffing away it made me feel ill. I was a heavy smoker but stopped both pregnancies and whilst bf, my boys are 24 and 17 and in those days there was little help and support in giving up. There are no excuses, i have no issues with smoking if it does not affect anyone else. If you smoke when pregnant then you are poisoning a baby end off. Sorry rant over, not in a great moos today