Smoking in pregnancy

[GeraldineMumsnet]

Please can you do our super-quick survey - one question! thank you

I wonder just how many people that 'couldn't' quit smoking because they were just so addicted would smoke another cigarette if the Doctor told them tomorrow that they either quit or die in six months...

"For example, should an unborn child be injured or killed due to third party negligence"

This is something that annoys me, murder a pregnant woman and it's a double murder, yet she could have killed the baby herself if she wanted and has the right to do anything she wants to it. I'm not passing comment on either side, but it's hypocritical of the law.

Vs - with regards to the "quit or die in 6 months" - I believe there's a MNer whose mother was basically told that - she still carried on smoking. And I'll think you find it's not that uncommon for people to continue smoking even if they are told that.

lol Cote - I'm glad you found it so easy to quit. I found it very very hard to quit when pg with DS1, pretty difficult with DS2 (though did have the one pack on one day in the middle of it) and I just couldn't quit at all with DS3.

and that you lost weight while bfing - doesn't work for all of us. I didn't start smoking again until DS1 was about 7 months old........and didn't lose ANYTHING in those 7 months and he fed constantly

I'm sorry to say this so bluntly, but you would have quit if you really wanted to.

I didn't find it "so easy to quit". I just knew that I had to quit.

you think I didn't know that I had to quit?? I'm not stupid. I didn't even enjoy my cigarettes while pg with DS3, I hated every bloody one of them.

Until you've walked the shoes of every woman that's every had a cigarette while pg don't presume to know how "easy" it would be for them.

re Breastfeeding & weight loss - I lost quite a bit of weight when breastfeeding DD, but probably would have lost more if I didn't eat sugar like crazy - especially Nutella, but also honey and jam fgs, things I never ate in my life before or since

Why didn't you throw away all cigarettes, lighters, and ashtrays, and just not buy another one?

I'm not presuming it will be easy. I'm saying it is necessary and hence needs to be done, although it will be hard.

don't you think it's odd that I knew I had to quit and wanted to with all 3 of my pregnancies but didn't manage to with my 3rd?

If I found out I was pg tomorrow then I think that I could probably quit again like I did with DS1/2's pregnancies, circumstances are somewhat more "favourable" for me to actually have the strength to do it unlike during DS3's pg.

VS - I know several people who have tried to quit multiple times and said they just couldn't. Then got diagnosed with lung cancer (my uncle) and breast cancer (wife of my father's business partner), for example, and quit right away.

It is sad.

I know someone who saw the advert of children surrounded by smoke and was asked "what does it tell you?" her answer was "that I'm smoking for two"! Sadly she was serious

I've never owned an ashtray (no honestly I don't!! - not even now) (that makes me weird doesn't it .

I threw away my cigarettes, I threw away my lighters. I still went an bought more.

Actually, I think I'd rather no talk about the time leading up to/during/just after DS3's birth, not trying to avoid an a debate, just,well was a pretty shit time for me all round. And things are happening currently in my life which mean I'd rather not drag up memories from that time and have them interfering with current positive stuff.

(again) at losing weight while BF'ing. I ate so healthily in those months after DS1 was born as I was desparate to lose the weight (having piled on 5 stone ) he fed like crazy and still the blubber sat there...

Did finally manage to lose it working nights many years later .

I remember your relationship broke down around the time you were pregnant with DS3 so I guess you are referring to that as "unfavorable circumstances". Still, you didn't quit with DS1 and DS2 either, when circumstances were more "favourable", did you?

Sorry, but it's not that hard. You throw away all cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays etc and stay home for a week or so. Munch on carrot sticks, pop hundreds of M&Ms, stick pins in your eyes, whatever you need to do to keep your mind away from going outside and buying cigarettes until the initial period of cravings goes away.

Can't pretend to have an indepth knowledge of ciggy contents I'm afraid. Can remember being shocked by the list of horrible sounding stuff though.

Actually I think FAQ said that she did quit with ds1 and had only 1 lapse with ds2.

arghh you haven't read my message have you

I quit totally with DS1

I quit (almost) totally with DS2 (I had one pack, on one day after a huge row with exH when I was sat in Northampton bus station with a bag of clothes heading for "I don't know where"). After finishing the pack I got back on the bus home and didn't smoke any more for the rest of the pg.

oh I wish I could have stayed at home when I was pg with DS3, it wasn't just my relationship, there was other stuff too. I had to go and do the food shopping (obviously with a shit relationship he wasn't going to and do it was he....), I had to go to work.

Staying at home would have be very nice, but totally impractical.

Sorry x-posts. I wrote that last post before I saw you didn't want to talk about it

and I posted when I shouldn't be, as some of it I'd rather not discuss that much.

Right, going to parp myself off the thread and go and make sure dinner is ready for when the DS's get back soon....

Happy debating everyone

I didn't say that there is no-one who would continue smoking after being given a warning by the Doc. I know a woman who carried on smoking, but that was because she wanted to not because she was unable. The other two people I know who were told the same quit immediately after being for more than 30 years (my father) and more than 50 years (X's Grandfather).

What I did say was 'I wonder just how many people that 'couldn't' quit smoking because they were just so addicted would smoke another cigarette if the Doctor told them tomorrow that they either quit or die in six months...'

My bet is that most of the people who will or have commented on this thread or others saying they smoked when pg because they 'couldn't' quit would quit in a flash if they thought they were going to leave their children motherless, pity the child's future health isn't as important.

But being told 'quite smoking now or die' by a medical professional isn't the same thing, psychologically, as being told 'if you smoke in pregnancy your child's health might be affected'. With the first you're dealing with a certainty, but with the second you're dealing with an unquantifiable possibility (given that it's a message aimed at the general population).

It's commonly accepted that some people experience addictions much more strongly than others. So it doesn't really make sense to say that because A could do it, then B must be able to do it too.

Yes, sure, and some people feel heat or cold more than others. Still, a flame is hot and an ice cube is cold for everyone.

These differences in perception are not that great.

Yes, smoking is an addiction. No, it's not impossible to quit.

Good for you, Marla, but I'm sure there are things that you find difficult that other people find easy. Plenty of people on MN say 'ooh, I'm useless with maths' and yet there are plenty of other people who find figures really straightforward. There are people who pass their driving test first time and those who fail again and again. Not everyone is the same!

What do talents & aptitudes have to do with smoking during pregnancy?