to wonder if it’s acceptable to smoke whilst pregnant?

[Lovemypeaceandquiet]

Just seen a heavily pregnant woman in town, smoking away whilst taking a break in her shopping.

Also knew a girl at work who was a frequent visitor to the smoking area to the very end of her pregnancy.

I thought it’s commonly known how harmful smoking is for unborn babies.

Is it due to ignorance or negligence? And why is it socially acceptable, unlike drinking or drug using in pregnancy?

Why though? Nobody will ever answer this honestly. You don't actually care about some random strangers random kid. So what do people get from anonymously judging this complete stranger on the internet. Is it the feel good factor you get from the other sanctimummies patting you on the back?

I think people deliberately harming children makes other people feel uncomfortable.

It is never acceptable to smoke; unless your'e actually on fire!

Trampolines are fun and a great many folk have them in their back gardens. They are not without risk. An acquaintance of mine broke his neck while jumping on a trampoline and he is now paralysed.

I think people deliberately harming children makes other people feel uncomfortable

Unborn foetuses aren't children. Regardless, there are hundreds of thousands of living children in this country alone who suffer appalling every day. Wouldn't it be more productive to channel the energy into doing something to help these children, rather than slapping one another on the back and judging a pregnant woman on the internet.

It's true.

Time again you'll read people being told 'not to worry', they had a very high BMI and everything was fine.

Yet, if a smoker said 'Don't worry, I didn't give up smoking when I TTC and my pregnancy was fine', all hell would break loose.

@Sunnyqueen ?

Sorry? Not sure why I upset you, I was just saying that the majority of us work on the basis of 'it will never happen to us'. I wasn't judging anything you have personally posted.

Smoking, trampolines, alcohol, swimming pools, mountain biking etc, you can apply it to anything and it's the reason most of us don't have a big enough incentive not to do 'it' whatever 'it' is. Thankfully the majority of people won't have a negative outcome from the things we do but that doesn't mean that those things don't carry a sometimes catastrophic risk.

I don't have a trampoline in my garden because I've been present at at least 3 horrific falls, therefore I deem them not safe, but other people disagree with me because they've never seen anything untoward happen on one.

In France women are encouraged to stop smoking but it's also widely accepted that quitting smoking is incredibly difficult and very stressful on the body and the pregnancy. In that regard if they genuinely can't, or indeed do not want to, they are told to cut down but not necessarily stop.

It's interesting to me that when we talk about abortion we talk about a woman's choice and their bodily autonomy and yet we don't afford her the same grace when it comes to her lifestyle before, during or after pregnancy.

We are the sum total of our choices, and it really doesn't have anything to do with anyone else.

She is also opening herself up to being on social services radar.

No she's bloody not don't be daft. A lot of midwives actually say giving up smoking in pregnancy can cause a lot of stress so it's a personal choice. I know two people who smoke in pregnancy because the stress of giving up added to their issues and their midwives agreed the stress wasn't helpful. Everyone knows smoking full stop is not ideal and it's slowly becoming less popular but that doesn't mean it will be eradicated over night.

Not all mother's put their children's welfare ahead of their own unfortunately.

Their own wants*

Its not socially acceptable but unfortunately some people are addicted to nicotine and find it very difficult/impossible to stop.

No amount of raging on the internet will change that. Supporting people to cut back or stop would be far more effective. Frothing at the mouth not so much.

The faux shock and naivety.
So boring

I don’t find it acceptable as it completely goes against medical advice but it does seem to be quite common.

I was at the hairdressers recently and there was a heavily pregnant woman nipping in and out the pub across the road to smoke.

Also when I’d just had DS I was in the maternity recovery ward and the woman in the bed across from me (we both just had emergency C sections and waiting for the epidural to wear off) kept on asking to be put in a wheel chair and taken outside to smoke. The midwives didn’t seem that shocked by the request.

I don’t find it acceptable as it completely goes against medical advice but it does seem to be quite common

It was a lot more common 40-50 years ago, when nearly half the population smoked and even if they didn't smoke, smoking was routinely permitted in offices, public transport and so on so they'd get a fair dose of passive smoking. That doesn't make it right or a good idea, of course, but those of us born in the 70s and earlier are here to tell the tale.

I once saw a heavily pregnant woman come out of the maternity unit onto the street in central London (UCLH). She was wearing a hospital gown and pulling an IV behind her, which got trapped in the door as she was trying to get through the door. She immediately started puffing away. So disgusting, poor baby!!

Pretty sure the women who are heavily pregnant with the fetuses think of them as unborn children, generally speaking. No point in justifying it, tbh.

Exactly this. 👏

Social services!!!

So funny.