Vaping during pregnancy

[Electricmouse026]

Hi all,
I'm just wondering if anyone has vaped during pregnancy? I'm pg with my first, I am a smoker however dramatically cut down when I found out and in the process of trying to quit, the hospital have actually prescribed me a vape and e liquid to aid me in quitting, however I am seeing loads of contradicting information online weather it's safe for pregnant women or not, I don't want to harm my baby and I can't see why the hospital would give me anything that would do so either! Just wondering everyone's thoughts? Xxxx

Is there carbon monoxide in the vapour? I no nothing about vaping, but it's the CO which causes the damage in pregnancy when smoking, as the foetus is starved of oxygen so doesn't grow to a normal weight. I wouldn't risk it though.

Well smoking is worse so it's the lesser of the two evils, so to speak. If you really can't give up smoking then personally I would try the vaping instead.

It’s better than smoking and no there is no carbon monoxide in water vapour.

Nicotine by itself isn’t harmful aside from being addictive. If you don’t want to vape then there are other nicotine delivery systems.

Good luck.

I asked my doctor when I was pregnant and he couldn't give me a straight answer so I just gave it up. No one knows the damage vaping whilst pregnant has yet and whilst I suspect it to be minimal or non existant I wouldn't be able to live with myself should the baby have suffered any negative effects from my vaping.

My midwife (plus the stop smoking woman who calls you after your appointment) told me vaping was better as the most harmful chemicals come out the end of a cigarette. They also told me because vaping is only nicotine and food flavouring then I'm getting "clean nicotine".

I'm slowly dropping the amount of nicotine in my oils but was told not to worry.

I also did the blow in the tube thingy and was told I had the lungs of a non smoker lol

It’s fairly simple:-

Best - don’t smoke or vape
Next best - vape
Worst - smoke

So cut down as much as you can and if you are desperate then vape.

As the others have already said smoking is not good for your baby so I am assuming that the vape has been prescribed as the next best thing or the lesser of two evils. If you can't do without either, which would be the preferable and safest option for your baby then vaping would be better than smoking.

Nicotine isn’t safe during pregnancy, regardless of how you intake it. If you do vape then get a nicotine free vape, which is essentially harmless to the baby because you’re just replicating the action of smoking and only taking in water vapour.

“Nicotine poses several health hazards. There is an increased risk of cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal disorders. There is decreased immune response and it also poses ill impacts on the reproductive health. It affects the cell proliferation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, DNA mutation by various mechanisms which leads to cancer.”

It’s a common misconception, even by health professionals, that nicotine isn’t harmful.

There are a couple of info leaflets you can download here - scroll down to 'E-cigarettes in pregnancy infographic' - the one for MW and HCPs has more info.

Angharad07 you really should provide a link if you're posting things that imply there are significant risks to nicotine use in pregnancy. Many pregnant women use NRT that has been prescribed to them and many others use an ecig. While it's obviously preferable not to smoke, vape or use NRT, the very real danger of recommending only nicotine free vaping is that it won't be effective and women end up smoking again.

Also there's enough to get stressed about in pregnancy without needlessly adding to it.

NHS: You can use NRT during pregnancy if it will help you stop smoking, and you're unable to stop without it.

Tommy's: Licensed NRT products are free of charge, safe to use in pregnancy and can increase the chances of quitting successfully.

ASH (PDF link): As stopping smoking can be difficult, some women may need pharmacotherapy support. A review of the efficacy and safety of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in pregnancy found that NRT increased smoking cessation rates, measured in late pregnancy, by approximately 40%. The authors found no evidence that NRT used for smoking cessation in pregnancy has either positive or negative impacts on birth outcomes.

A US review of studies found that NRT use significantly decreased the risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight compared to that of smokers and also found that NRT use does not appear to increase the risk of malformations.

(The ASH factsheet is fully referenced so you can find the original studies).

I asked my midwife yesterday and she said it's much better than smoking but still not fully tested yet and I had a carbon monoxide test which cane back as 2 which would indicate a non smoker

@PencilsInSpace - excellent post, really informative.

I've been nagging persistently requesting for MNHQ to get an expert in to do a webchat on quitting smoking in pregnancy over here, if anybody fancies adding their support

I vaped during pregnancy. I was told by my midwife it was fine which was what I could gather myself from research online I had done as well. I used the lowest dose (6mg e juice) and there were no issues re low birth weight etc and a clean placenta

I used to smoke and vaped a lot before I got pregnant. As soon as I became pregnant I stopped, cold turkey. Some people will say it is safe, some people will say it isn't. The truth is, we just don't know. People will say they vaped through pregnancy and their babies were fine however the same goes for smoking. Knowing I had a baby inside me was enough for me to stop and I think you should maybe think about a licensed nicotine replacement rather than eliquid products which are unregulated.

Thank you Thefeud for demonstrating exactly why I requested the webchat in the first place

10% of pregnant women are still smoking at the time of delivery. How disgusting that MN is not somewhere they can safely come for support to quit.

Vain hasn't been around long enough to know whether it is safe or not. But if it is helping you quit then surely it is a risk worth taking. Provided that you do actually use it to quit rather than to replace smoking.

In years to come there will be many dangers associated with vaping that will come out. Research is currently being done. Quite frankly I'd not take the risk !

I've posted the relevant guidance from the smoking in pregnancy challenge group upthread.

I suggest OP reads this and talks to her MW and other HCP if she has concerns.

This thread will just turn nasty now.

@Thefeud there's nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone on mn however there are much more eloquent ways to voice your opinion. You offer absolutely zero help of support however and suggesting someone thinks about terminating their pregnancy before addressing other options makes you sound incredibly naive. How about offering the op a little support. She's a human being after all, not a robot.

@Thefeud the fact that you just posted on another thread where op was asking for reassurance that her missing cat might be ok and you chose to put 'mine was found dead' makes me think that you really are just an utter idiot who gets off on making people feel like shit! OP I wouldn't listen to a word!