Smoking in pregnancy???

[Babyblues14]

just wanted to know how easy people found it to quit smoking once they found out they were pregnant. Did you manage to stop instantly or did you have to cut down???
I have been smoking for ten years and get terrible mood swings when I dont have any. People dont believe how bad they are until they actually see it. I have known I am pregnant for about a month and have managed to cut down massively. from 20 a day to 5. But family and dh are still having a go at me, I do want to stop completely but im finding it difficult. How was your experience with this?

You have done amazingly well to reduce down, but i can only emphasise the importance of quitting completely. Smoking is so dangerous in pregnancy and with a baby. Increased risk of DVT, placental abruption, still birth, miscarriage, pre term birth, low birth weight, respiratory problems in baby, SIDS to name a few complicAtikns. You will always find women that say they smoked and babies are fine... that's like anything, smoking and not getting lung cancer. But The evidence is there and proven time and time again. You can do this. Good luck

Laura I wont "shoot" you as you are just being honest like everyone else.
Your 2yo might not have medical problems at the moment that can be linked to cigarrettes in am obvious manner but that doesnt mean a thing.
If yoo did smoke and feel quite fine with that is up to you, but the OP has come here because she wants to quit (good on her) and she is asking for tips.

I disagree with this:
"Don't be bullied into quitting if you're not ready. It is a stressful process. I've found that doctors and midwives are more accepting of smoking mothers than they used to be."

Nobody is bullying, she asked for tips.
And my midwives and health visitor have definitely spoken to me about the dangers of smoking.

My mother raised me in a house full of smoke and now I see her twice a year because I cant forgive that.
She will have very limited to her grandchild because of second and third hand smoke.

I booked in with a smoking sensation (sp?) midwife who gave me different smoking aids to try but I didn't take to any of them and due to stress etc she said it was actually more dangerous to me and baby to quit. I had cut down to only a few a day so wasn't smoking heavily.

I'm sorry but any midwife that told you that is talking nonsense.

Op you've done incredibly well to cut down so much. Could you try losing another cigarette every few days? Replace it with something to do with your hands. My friend quit by eating oranges (!). Apparently it takes the same amount of time to peel and eat an orange as smoke a cigarette. There's a lot of help out there. Really good luck to you.

I forgot to ask, is your partner or are any of your family smokers?

"due to stress etc she said it was actually more dangerous to me and baby to quit."

This is twaddle. Any midwife who gives this information should be disciplined.

OP can you perhaps try the patches and gum again or try a different type this time or try the nasal spray? of you still get an itchy arm/feel sick with gum can you perhaps accept this as a sacrifice you should make for the sake of your baby?

My Mum smoked with 2/4 of us and said the placentas were grey and disgusting ..... I am related to two children whose mother smoked through both pregnancies and both are special educational needs , have learning support and far behind their peers .
I really think smoking is the worst thing you can do when pregnant although I sympathise it is an addiction .

I cant possibly imagine any midwife actively telling you to keep smoking as stopping would be 'dangerous'. Have you tried googling pictures for a visual representation of what smoking while pregnant does to the placenta etc? Good luck.

I know someone who smoked throughout their pregnancy, but had the audacity to moan about other people smoking around the young children in the garden(it was a party, yes she said that while she had a fag in her hand). I was so shocked I had nothing to say.

Not all smoking mothers end up with low birth weight babies who end up with respiratory problems! My son was 7lbs 8oz and is now a very healthy 2yo with absolutely no medical problems.

Your son is 2, you have NO idea whether he'll develop asthma or a heart problem when he's older. I hope he doesn't, but please don't hold him out as some kind of "I'm alright Jack" example when he could become asthmatic in his teens.

Just to add to previous poster - this happened to my cousin. My aunt also smoked throughout her pregnancy. My cousin was fine until she hit puberty then developed severe asthma.

The point is, even if some lucky children do escape, it is a scientific fact that there is a risk of causing them serious harm so why would you risk that for your baby?!

Luckily the OP knows this and wants to give up. Well done you and best of luck with it.

due to stress etc she said it was actually more dangerous to me and baby to quit.

This is absolute bollocks, and I don't believe a midwife would say it. There have been extremely large peer-reviewed studies showing that the stress of quitting is MUCH lower risk to the baby than you.

The only people I've ever heard say this are smokers who didn't quit during pregnancy - never a healthcare professional. Funny that.

Can I just add that in no way am I saying to op that smoking is fine and that there aren't risks. I'm lucky that my DS has no health problems and I'm currently pregnant and not smoking so in no way was it intended to come across as an acceptable thing to do.

I just wanted to add that a couple a day/week is not the end of the world.

With regards to the midwife suggesting it was more dangerous to quit, that was based on my personal circumstances. I was stressed with a close family illness which resulted in them passing plus another family death, working full time, and running about after dc1. Having the odd cigarette did help me but in no way am I saying that's the way to go. Also I didn't mean the ladies on here were bullying, I meant doctors/midwives although I still believe that they are more lenient on smoking mothers than what they used to be.

I apologise if I have offended anyone, it really wasn't my intention.

Op I found that changes in routine/habits helped a lot. Also polo mints or a lolly etc instead of a cigarette helped.

hi, thanks for all the replies and yes my partner does smoke. he said he is quitting but I know he is hiding it from me and still does smoke. I dont expect the people around me to quit I just want to do it myself. I do have a midwife appointment next week so hopefully they have some good advice, thanks everyone for the tips xx

I would much rather be moody, stressed and worked up, and try to manage those side effects, than smoke and put my baby at risk of an endless list of illnesses and complications.

I saw some 4d scan photos, supposedly taken while a mother was smoking, it really does affect them in ways you don't even realise.

The midwife is talking rubbish about it being more dangerous to quit full stop.

I would see and specialist and work out a plan to quit completely asap, you may even be able to quit entirely and not go back to it the after the birth. There is a higher risk of SIDS if parents smoke, and co sleeping is out of the question, cuddling your baby straight after a cig is also not advised.

It's really worth the effort.

Good luck!

she said it was actually more dangerous to me and baby to quit.

Complete bollocks.

I am a doctor and I often hear the "doctor said it would be too stressful/harmful to quit" line but he only doctor I know who I have heard say that was just really disengaged with his patients and didn't really care at all what they did. He believed that advising someone to quit was pointless as they never did and only offered advice to those who approached him.

Well done OP, you're doing such a good thing for your baby's health (not to mention your own!).

Can you show your partner the evidence on smoking causing SIDS (cot death)? It might help inspire him to quit.

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/file/Fact-sheet-Smoking.pdf

I just wanted to add that a couple a day/week is not the end of the world.

Utter rubbish and a very dangerous message to spread. Every cigarette smoked during pregnancy is dangerous for an unborn baby. Yes, the risks increase with the number smoked to an extent, but there is no safe limit.

Your midwife was talking crap - quitting smoking is ALWAYS beneficial. Although it might make you feel calmer, smoking actually causes stress responses within your body so does nothing to alleviate external stress factors. If you researched it then you would know that, but I think unfortunately the temptation is to cling to incorrect statements like these because it absolves you of your guilt.

Don't be bullied into quitting if you're not ready. It is a stressful process. I've found that doctors and midwives are more accepting of smoking mothers than they used to be. Just to add yes I felt guilty but I'm not ashamed to say I smoked throughout, even with the stigma and backlash you get!

I am absolutely agog at this statement ^

Sorry but you should be ashamed. You risked the health of your unborn baby and are desperately trying to disown responsibility for it. What's done is done, but you seem intent on offering the same 'cop out' to other mothers and that's just wrong. How can you be pregnant but "not ready" to quit smoking? How is that justifiable?

I have quit smoking (upon learning I was pregnant) so I do understand how hard it is, but it is a decision you make. If you choose not to quit, then at least own it and don't make out that you were in some way doing your child a favour because it would have been worse to deal with the stress of quitting

I quit 4 years ago before falling pregnant. I read the Allan Car book (not the comedian, different Allan Car). The book is called easyway. I found it repetitive and a little boring to read but it was fairly short and the messages in the book have stayed with me so I haven't been tempted since! Before reading that book I thought I loved smoking. I thought it would be impossible for me to quit. You also have the biggest motivation you could have. Buy the book ASAP. Read the book ASAP. I promise you it works and will really challenge the way you think about smoking.

I'm intrigued by this line that the stress of quitting is worse than smoking in pregnancy - you hear it SO much. I don't think women who say it are lying as such - I think it's something that women say to each other, that they want to hear and believe. I suspect sometimes they say it to their doctor/midwife straight after claiming that they have cut right down - and the health professional is a bit mmmm and doesn't really challenge them.

Why don't they challenge them? Perhaps because they think there is more to gain by keeping a positive relationship, perhaps because they women who actually don't want to give up won't, perhaps because smokers are disproportionately likely to be among groups that tend to disengage from antenatal care, perhaps because they're too busy.

But it is hard to imagine the level of stress that would be more harmful than smoking in pregnancy. If women don't feel able to stop smoking that is their choice - I'm not advocating bullying or humiliating them - but we shouldn't collude with fantasy either.

Oh, and good luck OP and congratulations on your pregnancy

I didn't realise that happened to the placenta. That is rank!!!!!

I just stopped. My DH struggled so he visited now vaping. Could you try that instead?

I have an old friend who smoked throughout her four pregnancies using the stress excuse, and also arguing that there is no scientific proof of harm (yeah, right). She brought up her kids in a fug of smoke (despite them all having asthma) and last time I visited, when they were aged 7-12, the parents were teaching them how to make roll-ups using garden weeds and smoke them, because, "It's better for their parents to demystify smoking for them rather than them learning using real cigs in the playground".

This is an intelligent, highly educated woman. Humans have amazing capacity for believing what they want to believe.

People who don't have the willpower to give up smoking during pregnancy as essentially passing the burden on to their helpless newborn.

If you don't give up, you are basically expecting your newborn baby to deal with the negative consequences and the side effects of nicotine withdrawal, instead of carrying that burden yourself. You are placing your own comfort above the health of your unborn child.

You can give up - you wouldn't be the first person to struggle with it, but you can do it!