Smoking

[Ads99]

Hi,
I'm 14 weeks pregnant and finding it really hard to give up smoking completely. A friend told me the stress associated with giving up is far worse than a social cigarette here and there. Anyone got any advice on giving up or the risks please.

[cosmicglittergirl]

I gave up smoking in my first pregnancy as soon as I found out which was luckily at the beginning. I won't lie the first week was really hard, but it got better. PP have mentioned the help you can get, the midwives will be supportive not judgmental. You won't enjoy the smoking you do while pregnant as it'll rack you with guilt. All the best in giving up.

[ArabellaStrange]

I had hypnosis to give up smoking when pregnant with my dd. It worked. Cost about forty pounds.
Alan Carr is also a good suggestion.
For me, the damage that I would be inflicting on my unborn child meant that I had to find a way to stop. And I did.

[ambientolf]

I found out last Tuesday and gave up cold turkey Wednesday so nearly 5 days without nicotine. Im hoping little one can now breathe much better then he/she could before. Please don't feel upset, I guess it was just easy for me plus I really can't afford to smoke & have a baby (although I enjoyed smoking) anyway! Far too expensive. I am now trying to get DH to quit which is proving more difficult but everyone is different & I feel bad that your finding it so hard. If you need any non - smoking support then let me know. The NHS app is great plus they send you texts & emails to keep you motivated.

[mswibble]

Another way to think of it is, you're talking how hard it is for you to quit. Imagine that you carry on smoking throughout your pregnancy, well your baby will be quitting cold turkey as soon as its born. You think its hard for you, well how is a new born baby going to cope with it?

Sorry if that comes across as really harsh, I was a very happy 20 a day smoker before my BFP. The morning I found out my pack of cigs were binned (there were 9 left!) and never looked back. I found it incredibly easy but I think that was due to the constant nausea I had for my first trimester. I tried to quit many times before and always failed. OH still smokes (in the back yard but I still hate the smell of it when he comes back in) but I'm not going to force him into anything, that's his own battle. He knows he has to quit and time is running out!

[TurquoiseDress]

Hi OP good luck with quitting, it's great you're looking into various resources & areas of support.

A friend of mine smoked all the way through pregnancy a couple of years back and if anyone asked about it she used to trot out the line "my GP says it's better to not to quit completely as the stress of this is worse for the baby"
Personally I don't know any medical professional who would say that (I'm one myself).

[Fanfeckintastic]

Also, just to continue on from the fact my placenta was that of a smokers even though I literally had my last smoke on the way back from the chemist after buying the test but my mother was dying of lung cancer and smoked around me (I never told her the affects it had on my placenta/baby) but my mam also had a miscarriage before she had me and blamed it completely on smoking (though she smoked on me also and I had to be taken to ICU when I was born) but it REALLY paved her whole life. My dad said she was never the same after the miscarriage and blamed herself completely.

Please try to stop, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty but it does harm your baby please don't try to convince yourself otherwise.

brummie I'm so sorry for your losses, I really hope things work out for you

[itsnotmeitsyou1]

I think the OP needs a bit more support here. Some of us can give up cold turkey, or never smoke at all, other people need a bit more help. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

What helps me is having something to distract me when I get a craving. Pick up a magazine, do a sudoku, chew on a damn pen (I have ruined many a pen in stress!). Try and avoid situations that normalise the habit, eg ask friends/family politely not to smoke around you or mention it. Keep a bottle of water on you at all times, sip it when you feel an urge, it really does help!

It is important that you try and quit, of course. However you will cause yourself more stress if you beat yourself up every time you give in. Write 'remember why I'm quitting' on all your packets, it may help you not light up more often.

I'm lucky, the only person I know who smokes is my boss. I think it makes it easier in real life if you have a good support system in place. It's very easy to sit behind a screen and this out 'just quit, you selfish woman', it won't actually help at all. Everyone breaks their bad habits in their own way.

[BigCatFace]

Hi OP, I struggled to quit to. I cut down to 2 a day from pretty much the start, then a few a week. That was so much more stressful than just stopping, which I did at 24 weeks. I relapsed a few times but didn't pick it up again and am now 38 weeks and don't smoke. I feel a lot LESS stressed now I don't, the guilt was killing me.

My advice is don't eke it out, especially if you're smoking very lightly. Stop, keep busy and yeah, might be a grotty few days but that's all. I still crave them but as time passes it gets a lot easier as you do more and more without cigarettes. Talk to your MW too. Good luck x

[ChippingInLatteLover]

You can do it.

The question is Do you want to do it?

We don't know you, so it's hard to know which approach will help you really. But you need to accept that this 'being stressed giving up is worse' is total bullshit. An excuse for some women to keep smoking.

With health stuff I work best when I'm scared into 'behaving' so we'll go with that. Read no further if you don't want to be scared into it.

Would you lean over the cot of a brand new baby and blow smoke in its face? If not, why is it ok because your baby is inside you?

One of you is going to have to go cold turkey, you get to choose if it's you now or your baby when they're born.

Google healthy lungs v smokers lungs and picture your growing baby in both those environments. It's not exactly the same, but near enough.

Read the statistics re cot death when the mother has smoked through the pregnancy.

There's plenty more out there to scare yourself into stopping. But you have to be prepared to do it. If not now, when?

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

I think the OP needs a bit more support here.