Did anyone vape in the first trimester with no lasting issues?

[solomon2]

Honest answers please and if you can refrain from judgement or any not nice comments.

i have a friend who is worried sick. Does not use mumsnet so i have written this thread for her for reassurance/advice.

did anyone vape during first trimester and baby was developmentally ok, were there any issues with birth or during the pregnancy?

does your child now have any health issues or conditions?

TIA

You won’t know with the child until they are older. Probably best not to do it.

I’ll be honest, I was a cigarette smoker before I was pregnant with my first and stopped as soon as I found out. Because I’d only recently stopped though, I was referred to the NHS smoking support department and after I explained to them I was an ex-smoker and asked if there was anything I could safely do to help cravings, they actually recommended that I use a vape. This is how the conversation went:

Me: I’m under the impression that vaping is still unsafe as there hasn’t been enough research done to determine the effects
Her: That’s outdated information, we do have enough research now to tell us that vaping causes completely minimal risk and we’d far rather expectant mothers do this instead.

At all appointments throughout pregnancy when they ask if you’re a smoker, they don’t class you as one if it’s vaping and not cigarettes. If it’s vaping, they tell you to select non-smoker.

I’m aware that lots of people will think this is outrageous and completely unacceptable but this was my honest experience

Oh my goodness thank you for your quick and honest reply. I will pass this on immediately. X

And may i ask, please do not feel like you have to answer this, how was your little one?

Does she use nicotine in it or just flavours? I would 'think' that the nicotine would be the issue, but no different to smoking- but obviously not inhaling burnt chemicals. She should speak to her midwife and if possible, wean off and stop the vape.

Sorry just read it again and realised you said you had stopped before baby. Xx

Yeah i agree this what also my thought about not knowing until older!

this is one of the reasons i had written the post in hope there may be someone out there that could possibly answer 🙏🏻

I stopped smoking cigarettes but yes I did still vape in the first trimester. Both babies went past term, completely healthy deliveries and babies. Was always classed as a low risk pregnancy by my midwives

Hi there. Thanks for reply. And how are your little ones developmentally wise now? X

I smoked cigarettes until around 8 weeks pregnant and then went to vaping. My daughter was born healthy, very easy pregnancy and natural birth and no issues with her health. She has always been a healthy child. Now a very active, super strong 8 year old who never sits still, never gets ill and is just perfect. And I still vape 😂 Very clever baby and walking by 12 months, talking clearly very early, doing well at school now. I couldn't say if she would be any better if I didn't but I am beyond happy with how she is.

My eldest is now an adult and I smoked cigarettes throughout that pregnancy... terrible I know! And looking back I feel so bad that I did, but vaping wasnt a thing and I couldn't stop smoking. All the same with her, healthy pregnancy and natural birth and she was also a very healthy child! Both tiny babies but I am only tiny so I dont think that vaping or smoking contributed to it.

Vaping is better than getting herself stressed and worked up thinking of vaping all day and trying to refrain wont help her. Its her choice at the end of the day xx

Well, physically they’re both big sturdy little things 😂 my 11 month old is nearly walking, can say 7 or 8 words and do all the expected things for a child her age. My other child starting reading at 2, counting to 100, knows all the planets in order, knows and uses some makaton (he just loves it!) as well as multiple other things, he operates at preschool level “academically” and is the most social and interactive child I know. He loves to sit in the Sainsbury’s trolley and say “hello, how are you” to every passerby. He’s an absolute little dream 🥰

Hi. Firstly thank you for your honest comment and personal experience. I have just passed that entire comment over to her and i think she will take alot of comfort in that with whatever decision she chooses.

wish you well. Xx

🥹🥹🥹 again i have sent this over to her and i think will really help put her mind at ease and she can stop beating herself up.

thank you xx

Would an alternative help like Breev be worth a try?

I quit (cigs) pretty sharp , I think I had a reality check in my booking in app when the doc said 8 cigs was nothing. And even I thought “wtf”. The grim image of me pregnant puffing away was far too much to bear.

Hi there. Thanks for your reply.
please can i ask what breev is?

im very old school haha a dinosaur basically

While it’s lovely to hear how well @ImpatientlyWaitingForSummer and @MysteryMumster ’s children are doing, it’s not a good idea to base important health decisions on a few reassuring anecdotes.

If you had posted about cigarettes, you would have received replies from women who smoked throughout pregnancy and yet produced healthy babies. Even so a vast body of evidence points to smoking causing growth restriction, placental abruption, preterm birth and stillbirth.

While vaping is likely safer than smoking, there isn’t yet enough known about it’s effects to give your friend the reassurance she desires.

Much better for her to talk to her midwife about getting referred to the smoking cessation service - they can help her to taper down nicotine and get off the vapes entirely.

Purely anecdotal and not something I’d recommend:
I didn’t find out i was pregnant until I was 7 months gone. I had smoked and drunk a lot during those 7 months and stopped the day I found out.
Dd is now 22 years old and other than a bit of hayfever has been fine this far.
the relief was huge and as I say, I’m not recommending it and I know there are risks. I didn’t smoke with my subsequent pregnancies. And this was smoking, not vaping.

Hi. No its not a good idea to base anything off a post i totally agree however there is no harm in asking other women for their honest experiences in a matter that ‘they’ have been through which is the aim of the post.

i cant help my friend in this situation as ive not been in myself hence why ive reached out for advice to others who have been in this situation xx

Hi there. Thank you for your honest post and story. Much appreciated and glad all is well Xx

Hi there I also vaped during the first trimester and now have a very healthy 8 year old. I stopped when I learned nicotine is bad for the foetus but hadn’t realised that for the first few weeks. Please tell your friend not to worry but best to stop now x

I’ll be honest…I’m not proud but I did smoke for most of my first pregnancy. I was so ashamed of myself. Managed to stop towards the end. Didn’t smoke at all for the second pregnancy. Both births went exactly the same. The eldest weighed more than the youngest and neither have any health problems.

I know you are trying to help, but by presenting your friend with reassuring anecdotes that may lead her to believe that vaping in pregnancy is entirely safe, you could be doing something quite dangerous. No obstetrician or midwife would ever offer such reassurance because we simply don’t know enough about the effects of vaping to do so.

Thankfully, poor pregnancy outcomes are rare in this country, the vast majority of women who vape will birth healthy children. But it doesn’t follow that vaping is entirely safe, it may be that it increases the risk of poor outcomes - unfortunately we just don’t know because it hasn’t been properly researched yet.

If you want to support your friend, you can share evidence-based information with her.

https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/im-pregnant/smoking-and-pregnancy/electronic-cigarettes-and-vaping

NC for this one.
I did and sadly ended in MC. Now I have no evidence that that’s what caused it but I did read up about it a lot around the time.

I think this all depends on the strength of the vape and how often it’s used. I had 20mg which is the highest one you can buy in a supermarket and I’d say I was a heavy vaper. So yes the NHS can in theory say it’s safer than smoking but nicotine is still harmful. So what mg they are basing this on? Who knows. The lowest for example you can get in a shop is 6mg from what I remember. That would be considerably less harmful than 20. But that’s just my own opinion I’ve drawn from my own experience. I did go on to have a successful pregnancy a few months after, but I did manage to quit the vape for the duration of conception through to delivery because I told myself that’s what happened. Wish I had the determination to keep it up after I had her!