who's been smoking during pregnancy?

[Sweedy]

Do you know someone or maybe you yourself that has been smoking during pregnancy? & was everything alright with the baby when it was born?
Am not asking for numbers for quitting or support, just want to know the fact... as i'm 40 weeks now & for me it wouldn't make a difference anymore.
Thanks

I'm not sure why you're worrying now since surely the time to worry about it was 9 months ago? Like you say, its not going to make any difference now. There will always be people who smoked throughout their pregnancies and had perfectly healthy babies. Just like there will always be stories of chain smokers living till 100 but that doesn't mean its not harmful.

I'm not judging you for smoking because I can't imagine how hard it is to give it up. Just find it a bit bizarre that your concerned about it only now that its too late.

I smoked through both of mine.
Ds1 is fine, was overdue and was a big baby, ds2 was also fine, but has ezcema so I am waiting for the asthma to come (he is 18 months)
I, like MrsReality wouldn't do it again since I have been able to quit smoking since then.
I did though, feel more guilty the closer I got to delivery as it really started to dawn on me that it was a baby.
I felt awful after they were born, but clearly not awful enough to stop
If I could do it differently, I would

PickleSarnie: I cut down a lot, when I got pregnant I was smokin 15 a day, now I'm only down to 1-2 cigarettes.
Of course I was concerned about that before, it's just now, closer to delivery it's starting to dawm on me, like SilveryMoon said.

Sorry, what do all these Ds1, Ds2, DD, DH, OH mean? I see them everywhere here. I can read out of course that Ds1 must be the first child & Ds2 the second, but... what is it short for? I'm new here.

sweedy go read www.mumsnet.com/info/acronyms should be enlightening :)

Aa, thanks alot Jazmyn! :)

I had 1 a day with DS1, he is fine. Not proud though, its vile. But he was fine

My mum smoked throughout both her pregnancies and gave both to 2 good sized, healthy girls. My MIL was an alcoholic when she was pregnant with her 3 kids (been sober for 30 years, and is an amazing woman) and can't remember anything about the labours, but all 3 children were fine and healthy. I on the other hand don't smoke, and whilst I may not be tee-total during pregnancy am very healthy. My DS1 was and still is fine and healthy and my DS2 (now 7) has suffered from cancer twice. I look back and try and think if i did anything wrong in pregnancy that caused it (bloody mother's guilt!) but deep down i know i didn't- am pregnant with nos 3 now (35 weeks). Basically, who knows?! Life isn't always fair and there isn't always a reason for everything. I am not saying that smoking is fine for you and your baby during pregnancy as we all know that it is advised that we don't do it, but we also know that worry and stress is also bad for the baby during pregnancy. Try to stop worrying about it now, concentrate on the fact that soon you will have a gorgeous bundle! Plus, congratulate yourself on cutting down to 1-2 a day as that is fantastic and not an easy thing to do, and then when you feel ready maybe try to start cutting down to 1 a day, then 1 every other day. etc? That is how my good friend gave up. Will stop waffling now x

People in 60s especially in America smoked in pregnancies because they were not aware of the potential risks. I know plenty of healthy adults in their 50s whose mothers smoked when they carried them. I also know one particular family where mother was a smoker with two of her daughters. Youngest had skin cancer in early 30s and died, older daughter had breast cancer and survived, she is now cancer free living a healthy life.
In some cases there is no way of know how smoking influenced your baby until much later in life.

Sweedy, if you gave up even now it'd make a difference, firstly because you're still sharing a blood supply with your baby. As a smoker you're more likely to have complications in delivery especially if you need a c section. And as a mum with a new baby, you're putting your baby at a vastly increased risk of sudden infant death if you smoke, even if you never ever smoke near the baby. Giving up even a day before you deliver will make a difference. Best of luck with whatever you decide.

I'm not a smoker and never have been but a friend of mine smoked a bit throughout her pregnancy - cut down massively but still snuck off for a cheeky one or two a day. Her midwife told her that she'd be better off just letting herself have those odd ciggies that getting stressed trying to give up totally as the stress element would have been worse for her and the baby than the odd cigarette. Not sure whether that's true or not but her little one is fine.

I was on 10 ish a day before pregnancy - maybe had 10 in total in the first 14 weeks, had my 14 week scan and stopped, not bragging - it was bloody hard - ive put on tons of weight and i'm nasty but couldnt continue smoking after seeing the scan, but thats just me. Am now 39 weeks, my friend has continued to smoke - probably 15 a day and is a few weeks behind me, she is having similar thoughts to yourself and i dont know what to say to reassure her, is there anything anyone can say? will be watching this thread with interest.

My MIL smoked throughout pregnancy and OH is fine.

I am only 6 weeks gone and have been trying to cut down but also in the middle of re-location due to DH getting a new job and I have to find a new job - plus was on tablets due to anxiety which have had to stop taking due to being preg - I have cut down from 5-10 a day (more at weekends) to 1-3 a day. It is killing me but I know its the right thing to do and am hoping that I can keep cutting down - am asking the midwife tomorrow what I can do! Good luck everyone and I think every cig you cut out is helpful - clearly stopping is the best thing to do but I know how hard that is! Best wishes to you all xxx

No expert or anything, but i wouldn't think that smoking would cause asthma - your unborn baby isn't inhaling the smoke through their lungs. I'd think it'd be more the effect of the nicotine & other chemicals that travel through their blood as they are developing??

As I said - just my lay-woman's thoughts & as i have never been a smoker i'm certinly not an expert. But this kind of stuff is interesting so it'd be good to hear from anyone who does have knowledge on these things?

Best of luck with delivery and congrats in advance on your lovely little bundle :)

My mother (who's a nurse) smoked while pg with my 2 older brothers (34 and 32 now) and with my older sister (33) thankfully she stopped before me and my little sister. My eldest brother was premature, has a heart murmur (sp?), ashma, hay fever and suffered with bad health his whole childhood and now suffers with severe migranes (who knows if any single one could possibly be connected with smoking?!)
my other brother was a "perfect baby" never sick and is still very fit and healthy.
My sister was perfectly healthy throughout baby and childhood.
Eldest was below average and other two were above average weight at birth, the boys were early my sister was two weeks late...

Thats my personal experience and as a reformed smoker i know its not easy but stressing about it will not help your baby. But you can give up i honestly can hand on my heart say it is a hell of a lot harder to cut down from 15 a day to 1 then it is to go cold turkey. Your body is still in withdrawl its on going your having to starve for your precious one each day where as giving up full stop means about 3 really rough days then each and every day after that gets easier and easier and you should be proud of yourself for what youv done already but you will be a hell of a lot more when you chuck em all in the bin and dont look back!!
Take care

Im not a smoker and never have been, so I appreciate its really hard for me to understand the addiction. But what I do struggle to understand is when you know that the effects of smoking are passed directly to your unborn child, why is this not enough to stop? If there is even a remote chance of harming your child, why would you not do everything in your power to stop....the posters in the hospitals even talk about the chance it may result in stillbirth. Is smoking that necessary that youre willing to risk that? I know I sound critical....but im really not, I just dont get it. Clearly there are enough people that do smoke, so I can see its not easy. I just dont understand.

Sorry but I know loads of people who smoked during pregnancy and who had children with health problems. Maybe you'll be very lucky but dont kid yourself.

Estya there's an absolute proven causal link between smoking in pregnancy and childhood asthma. Here's just one summary of a research study about it - and this particular study was on women who didn't smoke after birth.

www.childbirthsolutions.com/articles/news/smokinglinkedtoasthma.php

Not a dig at you at all, but I do wish the message about the links between smoking and childhood illness was much better known.
And anecdotally, there will always be people who smoke like chimneys and produce healthy children and live a long life. But the plural of anecdote isn't evidence. All the robust, replicable and reputable evidence shows a very clear link between mothers smoking both before and after birth, and the health and life of their children being compromised. For those looking for a reassuring message, sadly there isn't one.

My Mum smoked though all her pregnancies.

I was fine
DSis was born weighing only 5lb
DB was fine
DB2 has severe excema
DB3 has asthma and glue ear.

My mother did not smoke with me - I went to full term, was 9lb, never suffered any problems.

Smoked 1-2 cigarettes a day with my younger sister, who was born a month early, weighing 6lb, had glue ear and grommets/tubes put in 3 times by the age of 1, has asthma, eczema, and allergies.

So don't kid yourself.

i'm no health fascist, but i can't bear seeing pregnant women smoking, nor mothers smoking over their babies. newborn babies smelling of fags and breathing in cigarette smoke? absolutely disgusting. sorry. i know it's an addiction, and i'm sure you've tried to quit, but as other posters have said, it's NEVER too late. you can limit the damage.

I agree with sotough. I was a 30 a day smoker before I fell pregnant.
When I got a positive test with DD (at about 4 weeks pg), I went outside with hubby and said, this is my last cigarette. He didn't believe me. But it was. I didn't touch another cigarette for my whole pregnancy and of course it was tough, but it wasn't about me, it was about my unborn baby. Sorry I know that sounds like a massive guilt trip I just put you on but I just would like to encourage you to stop now, it's not too late.
As someone else said, smoking around a newborn is sometimes more harmful.
I hope you manage it, and good luck.

Actually, I've got to say, it wasn't actually that tough, i'm being kind by saying that. Before becoming pg I found it excrutiatingly hard to quit. So I know it is hard to quit. But doing it because you're carrying a baby? Not hard. Because for me smoking wasn't an option.