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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

I hate scaremongering, but this new study on SIDS is alarming: please read

18 replies

BlueberryPancake · 15/10/2007 17:40

Hi everyone,

When I was pregnant, I hated reading scare stories about birth, babies, etc. I wanted to hear about the good stuff!

But this new study, linking smoking during pregancy and SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) is alarming.

Please read it:
news.independent.co.uk/health/article3058899.ece

OP posts:

TheEvilDediderata · 15/10/2007 17:45

There's a huge thread in active convo's on this very subject, Pancake.

Pheebe · 15/10/2007 17:46

Why is it alarming its actually nothing new, just confirming what has been known for ages. Simple answer...don't smoke when pregnant or after...

PS. I know that isn't as easy as it sounds, I'm an ex-smoker and will always live with the guilt that my first mc happened because I was still smoking

bumptobaby · 15/10/2007 17:52

I'm not surprised at the report but i am surprised that people still smoke 1)while pregnant 2) after baby arrives.

If you can't give up the least you can do is not smoke around your baby. I have a family memeber who smoked all the way through her pregnancy and now smokes both in the house and in the car while dc is there - its shocking (think i will send her a link to the report)

I'm an ex smoker too and know how hard it is to give up but i'm sure this report will help some people make the right decision and give them all the encouragement they need.

slayerette · 15/10/2007 17:52

I find it really strange that people are reacting to this as if it's news. Surely everyone's known about the risks of smoking whilst pregnant for years and years, haven't they? Basically, women choose whether to smoke or not whilst pregnant and then (presumably) are happy to accept the risks to the baby if they do smoke. It's not rocket science!

Pheebe · 15/10/2007 17:59

I was at the hospital for a check up not so long ago and came away crying (I was 37 weeks then) cos of all the young, heavily pregnant girls standing outside smoking one even looked like she was in labour!!!

I heard somewhere that theres a trend among teenage mums to take up smoking if they don't already in the hope of having a smaller baby and an easier birth

ADragonIs4LifeNotJustHalloween · 15/10/2007 18:10

It has to be said that the warning "smoking lowers the birth weight of your baby" was ill thought out. After having a 10lber I swore I would take up smoking for the next one. Of course, I was joking and knew it wasn't quite what the warning meant.

Original poster

BlueberryPancake · 15/10/2007 18:13

slayerette, this new study is showing a much stronger link than any other researh has done before. Of course we all know that smoking is bad... don't underestimate your fellow mumsnetters!

OP posts:

BetsyBoop · 15/10/2007 18:15

old news really. Just more stats to back up what we've known for ages, smoking damaged babies.

There really is no excuse for smoking while pregnant or around babies/children, it makes me so when I see it

TheQueenOfQuotes · 15/10/2007 18:16

"Basically, women choose whether to smoke or not"

oooo yes now I remember I stood there thinking "wow I really want to smoke and risk serious damage/death to my baby"

ruty · 15/10/2007 18:19

sorry QofQ I know it can be extremely hard, but many people do give up. It is very hard but you can do it. So ultimately yes one does have a choice.

slayerette · 15/10/2007 18:29

But it is a choice, isn't it? I know that smoking's an addiction and giving up is really hard. But it's still a choice whether to have each cigarette or not. I struggle to lose weight but I do know that it's my choice to eat the wrong sorts of foods and it's my choice to put myself at risk of Type 2 diabetes and so on. I'm not pretending that I'm being forced into it by some sort of higher power, or a man with a gun to my head saying 'Eat that mars bar or I'll shoot you.'

bumptobaby · 15/10/2007 18:39

Yeah we are all in a position to make the choice smoke or not - i agree with slayer.

Its sad that a mothers choice can have such a terrible effect on their baby.

Although this is not new information i think the way it has been written is quite clear and no one will be able to say they didn't understand the findings - do you think it will make a difference to some smokers

carolcoles · 15/10/2007 18:41

My dd is 15 months old and I hate that my mum smokes in the same room as her. I tell her not to and she moves away to the other end of the room. I had a little brother who died of a cot death when he was 2 months old(23 years ago) and my mum has never gotten over it. How do I stop her smoking around dd without her seeing it as me blaming her for brothers death? It's such a difficult thing to bring up, any suggestions?

Pheebe · 15/10/2007 20:28

Personally I wouldn't expose my DCs to cigarette smoke under any circumstances if I could possibly avoid it and certainly not to save someones feeling whoever they are. Sounds harsh I know but their health is more important than anything else

BetsyBoop · 15/10/2007 20:36

ditto Pheebe

no one smokes around my DD, PERIOD.

WheresMyWaistGone · 15/10/2007 22:36

Here here.

I have always been pathologically opposed to smoking and am now even more militant, after seeing its effects on my beloved Grandma who is now on oxygen 18 hours a day as a result of smoking for I guess 60 years.

My MiL smokes and as long as she has been coming to visit us, whichever house we have been in, right from the first time I ever met her, she has not been allowed to smoke inside the house, so obviously that won't change when she comes to see the baby (I'm currently 40+3). Different matter at her house, though she does only smoke in the kitchen, but of course the rest of the house reeks.

I pass a rather dodgy pub on my way home from work, and I regularly see mothers with toddlers and a bump, with a pint and a cigarette. I just feel like asking them what the hell they're doing, but I'm likely to get beaten up for my trouble. I can't beleive that the recent advice has been 'no alcohol and cut down on the fags'...surely it should be the other way round?

elvisgirl · 17/10/2007 00:23

Here is Australia the news was greeted with a proposal to ban the sale of cigarettes to pregnant women. How that would help I don't know. The ciggie packs here have photos of gangrenous legs, mouth cancers, etc on them. The fact that parents smoke at all is astounding to me. More positively though, in the US Arnie Schwarznegger has banned smoking in cars carrying persons under the age of 18.

claraq · 17/10/2007 13:40

Good for Arnie. I saw a woman light up in a car (with closed windows) carrying two toddlers the other day and could not believe it. It looks common, it smells common, it is common. And should be illegal here too. In fact I believe that it should be illegal for pregnant women to smoke, and anyone to smoke around children, full stop. As you are putting another's life at risk why shouldn't it be?

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