Pregnant and smoking

[Moominfan]

Do you judge mums who are pregnant and smoke? There was some work place drama today. Pregnant lady over heard a comment made by two members of staff about her smoking. Must have touched a nerve. One of the two ladies is struggling to conceive so I imagine seeing someone drain a cancer stick whilst pregnant must be repugnant to her.

'Waynetta Slob'/ 'Greedy Oinker'/ 'Utter Trash'

The language used to describe women on this thread is disgusting.

I judge the posters.

Indeed. The levels of smugness and privilege are excruciating.

@LailaDay so processed foods cooked at high temperature. Home cooked chips are not the same. And they are unsure of what amount is linked to lower birth weight. I don't think there's a safe amount of smoking.

Processed foods tend to contain high amounts of acrylamide due to high temperature methods used in food processing. Reducing the amount of processed foods you eat, such as biscuits, cakes and ready meals and using more fresh foods can help to reduce dietary acrylamide.
Other tips to reduce your consumption of acrylamide:
Try not to over cook foods.
Toast bread to the lightest colour that is acceptable to you.
If you are craving chips, try them home-made and cook them in the oven to a light golden colour.
Make sure you follow instructions properly on packets of pre-prepared foods.
Do not store potatoes in the fridge. At cooler temperatures the sugars in potatoes accumulate, which can lead to acrylamide forming when they are cooked.

How does judging fit in with a woman's body a woman's choice?

I do accept it’s her choice but equally it’s a choice that on a personal level I do find morally reprehensible.

Oh and in a previous job I had most of the women there smoked when pregnant, and weren’t in abusive or unstable relationships. They were as happy as shit and just saw it as their ‘one vice’ and ‘did everything else right’ when the partners expressed concern.

Another person here who loved smoking but gave up the second there were two lines on a test.

It's tough, but I wouldn't breathe smoke in a newborn babies face, and smoking while pregnant is no different. It is a crutch, but I personally felt I'd made the decision to raise a baby and wanted to make the best choices for the baby in pregnancy.

Cigarettes were my cravings, I used to follow people around while they smoked. I'd cried because I wanted one so badly but I didn't cave.

Done the same this time around, it's been harder this time for some reason but I refuse to light up a cigarette. The guilt is overwhelming.

I think I do judge women who smoke while pregnant, I wouldn't say anything or comment openly though. Just find it selfish, regardless of circumstances.

Totally. Especially the ones I walked past in hospital gowns smoking outside the doors of the maternity department, creating a fug of smoke I had to carry my precious newborn baby through to take him home.

You can still take nicotine to help you give up smoking. That’s what reduces any physical stress

Actually you can't really if you're pregnant. The risk for the mother comes from all the other crap in cigarettes, but the risk to the baby is due to the actual nicotine. Patches or vaping won't help so it is much more difficult to quit if you wait til you're pregnant

Of course patches help. Why wouldn’t you use a patch for a month or two rather than smoke for 9? I don’t even understand your post tbh

No I wouldn't judge, unless a heavy smoker. I would judge a pregnant drinker far more.

No, I wouldn't judge or I'd be judging half the women standing outside our Antenatal clinic, which happens to be where I walk, daily.
It's none of your business, keep it out.

Yes I would judge and I also judge the idiots (male and female) who smoke right over their baby’s pushchair etc - but that’s because I struggle to understand how any person can’t prioritize the health of their children. And when you consider how many options there are out there for nicotine addicts it’s often just sheer laziness about getting help.

I have never judged anybody as harshly as I judged myself whilst smoking a cigarette pregnant.

But that's not what made me stop. The shame kept me smoking and feeling isolated and different. It was the love for my unborn child that helped me cut down and then to quit.

A poster mentioned many of the disadvantages I was at, not least an unplanned pregnancy but some really horrible life experiences and circumstances. And feeling very very alone. But I did manage to quit with the wonderful support of the NHS service. And I am so grateful that I did. It was a lot harder than I think anybody will ever give me credit for. I was one of those people they didn't expect to give up. But I did give up.

I don't judge anybody, because I have been to hell and back. And just because I managed to find the strength to give up and get the appropriate support, it was bloody tough and I know that others just do not have that much fight. I didn't know I did and often felt like it was beyond me.

Some of us live very different lives. You do not know what other people are going through. Yes it's hard to watch but try and have some bloody compassion.

It's so easy to kick pregnant women. They are just an easy target for condescending bullies snobs who don't know the first thing about their struggles.

The only thing I hope is that my children won't ever be smokers and have to go through that themselves and that I can stay stopped for good, especially my daughter.

I love how many people here are smug about stopping the day they found out they were pregnant but smoked whilst TTC

@crispysausagerolls

Not everybody tried to conceive

Not everybody tried to conceive

I like to think a large portion of people did

Yes absolutely I would judge, it is just totally selfish,that your preventable actions could lead to your own child being born with serious birth defects that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

I get that giving up is hard, but it's not so hard that it is impossible. And there is so much free help available now, the NHS has chucked so much resource into smoking cessation, and if you're pregnant I imagine you get even more help.

There is really no excuse unless that person also has for example severe learning difficulties so doesn't understand the risks.

Really no excuse? What about my friend with severe mental health problems in pregnancy? She was nearly sectioned. She was trying to get a termination at 25 weeks, smoking was the least of her worries

One of the two ladies is struggling to conceive so I imagine seeing someone drain a cancer stick whilst pregnant must be repugnant to her.

I really wish people wouldn’t assume women struggling to conceive are any mire upset about a woman choosing to smoke/drink while pregnant than anyone else.

I get that giving up is hard, but it's not so hard that it is impossible. And there is so much free help available now, the NHS has chucked so much resource into smoking cessation, and if you're pregnant I imagine you get even more help.

Hahahaha!

I’m pregnant and someone I know (not a friend) who is a few weeks ahead of me is still smoking. Yes I very much judge!

I also gave someone a filthy look today as they lit up outside the hospital over their newborn. Vile.

I smoked as a teen and stopped about 20 years ago. Us ex smokers are usually the most judgemental!

SinkGirl - it fucking pisses me off when I see on pack of fags "Stop smoking. Ask NHS for help". How dare they?! I had the same shit you had from my GP surgery. And that AFTER a receptionist didn't even want to put me on the phone to the nurse who used to provide help. "We don't do these services anymore bla bla". I said "Well, another medical professional here told me you do, I want to hear that they don't from them directly". In the end I spoke to a very nice friendly nurse who tried to help, but I gave up on my own without any pills etc.

I got the NHS app - that’s the extent of it. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I were in a worse place mentally, with just a few push notifications telling me how well I’m doing 🙄

Lasts for 28 days and then tells you to do Couch to 5k. All done!

crispysausagerolls you might like to think that but the fact is, a very large portion of pregnancys are unplanned, mine included, so your TTC comment is just not relevent.

Yes I will be proud that I gave up the minute I found out, I didnt find out however until I was 7 weeks. I think most women who are TTC give up. Not all, but most.

I think that if a pregnant woman seriously considered quitting and is trying that's good. If she actually manages to do it that's great. If she doesn't it's not great but it is what it is.

If they don't even consider it I might raise an eyebrow but not my circus,not my monkeys.

I judge the shit out of some of the people on this thread that have used derogatory language and/or decided that someone will be a shit parent just because they smoke.