Log fires and late pregnancy

[AR25]

I am currently 38 weeks pregnant and living with my husband and our dog at my parents house. The house is split into two sections so we have our own bedroom and bathroom area and our own lounge area, we share a kitchen and utility room which works fine. My parents have a log fire in their lounge which they light every night, sometimes it can get quite smoky so I open our bedroom windows and air our upstairs area out, it really worries me with the association of fire smoke and autism with pregnancy!?

I’ve never heard of this association? Can you share link please!!

What’s that now? Fire smoke and autism…?

What link is there between fire smoke and autism?

At the end of the day, it’s their house. Move out if you don’t like what they do.

There is no link
autism is in the genes

It’s a new thing the daily mail published but that was more for wildfires so I then decided to go onto Google about normal log fires and it came up with a potential association, it’s just made my pregnancy hormonal brain go into a bit of an overdrive that I’ve been breathing in log fire smoke every night all over winter

Well put the daily mail on the fire instead of the logs. Job done

OP, all your posts are erratic pregnancy worries. Stop googling.

How on earth did families manage in the past ?!!! when there was no central heating and families had coal fires or depending on where they lived they had log fires ( depending on availability and price of coal / logs )

This. FFS.

True 😂

You’re right I’ve just seen OP’s repeated erratic posts. OP it seems like you need some help, these concerns are not normal.

Thinking about this logically and on an evolutionary basis Cavemen would have been completely smoked out but perhaps if one were to generalise about autistic traits they would have been a big advantage.

Breathing in smoke isn’t good for anyone so I would certainly consider my own co2 monitor if there isn’t one already fitted (there should be as part of building regs)

hmm at first I was 99.9% sceptical that there would be any truth to the link being drawn here. But it does seem there's truth to wild fire exposure possibly being part of a system that increases instances of autism when pregnant women are exposed very heavily in late pregnancy. However. There's no causation being shown, just that it may be a modifying factor, for example, if autism is already in your genetics it might make it more likely to be expressed. But you're comparing a house fire burning seasoned wood with presumably a healthy updraft to gigantic wildfires burning everything in their paths including houses, cars, plastics, chemicals, infiltrating houses, workplaces, the air outside, everything everywhere all the time. But you could always get an air filter for your room.

Why is it smokey? Are they burning it at the right temperature (you can buy a flu thermometer for a couple of pounds). It absolutely shouldn't be smokey in room and certainly not in yours.

But given generations of people grew up with open fires, I don't think you have much to worry about in terms of potential links to autism.

Do you think your own grandparents enjoyed central heating?

Hmm came on here for support, not this haha. But honestly I know, it’s the job I do that gives me this anxiety unfortunately. But yeah I guess I need some perspective to put me in my place and I know my posts are erratic, just venting my anxiety thoughts rather than keeping them in.

Yes I was just thinking this - presumably everybody in the middle ages was autistic then...

Oh god please shut up 😫

but I hope OP that it does feel supportive to hear lots of logical reasons why you don't need to be fretting about this. That's how I treat my own self when I start to worry about things, I like to think about things as logically as possible and work out if my worries are reasonable or emotional or driven by generalised anxiety. And if they're reasonable, then act on them. Nobody wants to be in a smoky room full stop, so maybe get your parent's chimney swept and get a wee filter for your bedroom!

If fire smoke causes autism how do you explain a rise in autism whilst open fires have been on the decline?
Don't read the daily fail. Don't believe the 'causes' of autism you read about. It's all a load of rubbish trying to get hits as autism is a popular discussion point right now.

It shouldn't be smoky in the house. It's sounds like the fire isn't drawing properly and the chimney needs sweeping.

I wouldn’t be happy with this because of potential carbon monoxide and the smoke.
Everyone knows smoking is bad in pregnancy it is common sense lots of smoke from a fire is also bad.

it would also be bad for the new baby when they are here and could contribute to asma

Could opening your window be drawing even more smoke into your room. Maybe opening one at the other end of the house would be better.really though I would buy some electric radiators.

😆😆

Oh come on OP, citing the daily mail to suggest there’s a link between autism and smoke is batshit. Tell your parents to sort their chimney out to avoid any actual risk and then chalk this worry up to crazy pregnancy anxiety.

The midwife should do a carbon monoxide test at your 35 or 36 week appointment. I sat next to a smokey fire the night before mine and blew a 6 on the test. I think anything over that is concerning. You could get yourself a carbon monoxide detector (cheap on Amazon) to keep in your room and wait to see what you test at and what your midwife thinks.

To be clear - this still wouldn’t lead to autism