Smoking While Pregnant

My SIL who is 43 and PG for the first time is still smoking too. No, it's not good for the baby at all!! Every single drag taken prevents oxygen from going to the fetus...nevermind that it increases the risk of miscarriage, SIDS, placenta previa among other things. My mother smoked when she was PG with my brother and he is 80% deaf in one ear and 60% deaf in the other. The Dr.'s said that it was due to the smoking.

So those ladies out there smoking are really putting themselves and their babies at risk.

I look at it this way, would you put a cigarette in your newborns mouth? Well, that is exactly what they are doing. My Dr. described it as the womb filling up with smoke and the baby sputtering for breath...not quite a nice thought huh?

I guess I didn't realize what a strong opinion I had!

I smoke now. My Dr said to slow down rather then quit while TTC , but to attempt to completly quit when I find out Im PG.
I know I will stop cold turkey when I find out Im PG because I just DO NOT want to take any risks.
The risks are low birth weight, pre mature labor and children with risk of asthma. More a risk then I personally wanna take...BUT as a smoker, I know how hard its going to be. I DO NOT approve of women smoking when pregnant, but I dont judge them( well ok, a llittle I do) .

It's definitely not okay to smoke while pregnant. I'm very surprised to hear that these women are smoking in public while they are visibly pregnant.

I had quit smoking 7 months before my wedding. In the 2 weeks prior to the wedding, I picked up the nasty habit again due to wedding stress - but I was smoking very little. Nevertheless... continued to smoke on the HM, and when I got back...not knowing I was PG yet!

But I have to admit that even when I did find out I was pregnant, I didn't quit immediately. And it's hard to 'cut down' from a light habit -as it is I was only smoking 1 - 3 a day. But eventually I did fully quit again (stupid relapse that was!). And many sources say that if you quit before 16 wks, your baby has equal chances of being born just as healthy as a baby born to a non-smoker.

I still feel incredibly guilty for the time I did smoke while pregnant and even though the Drs say everything looks perfectly normal - everyday I pray that my baby will be born healthy.

I DO know women who have smoked consistently through their entire pregnancies. And, in all the cases (of the women I happen to know), the babies came out perfectly healthy! But they took a huge risk and those babies were incredibly lucky!!

I'm actually shocked to hear that so many women still smoke while pregnant! I can understand not being able to quit for yourself, but wouldn't quitting for the life of your unborn child be motivation enough? That kind of makes me sad.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING infuriates me more than seeing a pregnant woman smoking.

We, as adults know the harm that it does to our own health, but to jeopardize the health of a helpless unborn child just infuriates me.

I actually know a woman who smoked through her pregnancy.

She went through many miscarriages b/c she is a smoker and as soon as she would get pregnant she would quit. Her body would go into shock and she would have a miscarriage.

A few times she quit b/f she got pregant but still had miscarriages.

After about 3 miscarriages her doctor advised her to continue smoking but to cut back and she has two healthy children today.

ETA: I'm not a smoker and never have been just sharing a someone's story. It might be a good idea to quit smoking long before you decide to TTC though just to avoid problems and be as healthy as you can be. I suffer from high blood pressure so I've decided to get used to living a healthier lifestyle before I TTC-- eating healthier, exercise, little or no caffeine, vitamins.

With my son - I was smoking before I found out - I quit immediately though - unfortunately I went back after he was born.
This time around I had prepared and quit before I got PG - I've been smoke free since October.

I have to say that it disgusts me when I see a pregnant women smoking - just the look of it - in really angers me.
I have a GF who has smoked through all her pregnancys and says that the Dr. told her not to quit just cut down. I think its BS - my Dr. says you should definetly quit if you are a smoker. What good could come of smoking while you are PG??

Im a smoker. Its hard to totally quit cold turkey. Im down to 1-2 a day. I know why even bother, but it's a bad habit and its hard to totally stop. I know I will not touch a ciggerette while i'm PG. Im tring to stop now b/c I don't want to find out Im PG and still have been smoking, but my doctor told me the same thing, quitting on one shot while PG can hurt the baby more than the occasional cig.
Actually the hardest thing for me is going to be cutting out the wine

I have to say that, for all the people who believe that quitting smoking cold turkey is bad for the baby - everything I've read and heard says that is a huge load of BS and I believe it. It's just an excuse for a smoker to smoke for longer. There's no big health improvement for the baby in cutting down from say 6 cigs a day to 3 a day. But the difference between just ONE and NONE is HUGE.

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Posted by JimmysBride

I have to say that, for all the people who believe that quitting smoking cold turkey is bad for the baby - everything I've read and heard says that is a huge load of BS and I believe it. It's just an excuse for a smoker to smoke for longer. There's no big health improvement for the baby in cutting down from say 6 cigs a day to 3 a day. But the difference between just ONE and NONE is HUGE.

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I agree 100%!! I used to be a smoker for 13 years...and I quit cold turkey 4 years ago without being pregnant...I think that if I had a child growing inside of me it would be even more incentive!! I know all of the PG smokers know that they are wrong, but make excuses...at least that's what my SIL does.

I worked with this lady that had 3 kids, and was pregnant with the 4th, and I was be soooo pissed in seeing her outside 3-4x/day for her cig. When approached about it (people actually tried to talk her out of it), she would quip that she smoked through her 3 other pregnancies, and they were all healthy, so there was no need for her to stop.

I also recently found out that a friend of mine's mom had smoked and drank while she was pregnant with her. She's healthy, too, BUT, she's crazy... lol.

Either way, IMO, I've felt that if someone can't protect their child when it's most needed, they shouldn't be having a child in the 1st place.

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Posted by StepherG
I know all of the PG smokers know that they are wrong, but make excuses...at least that's what my SIL does.

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EXACTLY! All addicts make excuses for their bad habits!

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Posted by StepherG

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Posted by JimmysBride

I have to say that, for all the people who believe that quitting smoking cold turkey is bad for the baby - everything I've read and heard says that is a huge load of BS and I believe it. It's just an excuse for a smoker to smoke for longer. There's no big health improvement for the baby in cutting down from say 6 cigs a day to 3 a day. But the difference between just ONE and NONE is HUGE.

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I agree 100%!! I used to be a smoker for 13 years...and I quit cold turkey 4 years ago without being pregnant...I think that if I had a child growing inside of me it would be even more incentive!! I know all of the PG smokers know that they are wrong, but make excuses...at least that's what my SIL does.

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I agree with jimmysbride!!!
And I believe that they are just excuses to - I think that they should take a look in a mirror and see how they look smoking - a PG person does not look 'cool' smoking a cigarette!

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Posted by brideinapril
I agree with jimmysbride!!!
And I believe that they are just excuses to - I think that they should take a look in a mirror and see how they look smoking - a PG person does not look 'cool' smoking a cigarette!

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They don't SMELL cool either!

Im NOT a smoker, and dont think smoking is a great idea while being pregnant.
But I have to say my mom smoked throughout all her pregnancies, and we all turned out fine. Im not saying that it is ok.

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Posted by The Original 2nd-time-around

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING infuriates me more than seeing a pregnant woman smoking.

We, as adults know the harm that it does to our own health, but to jeopardize the health of a helpless unborn child just infuriates me.

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I couldn't agree more. I think it is the most disgusting thing to see...a pregnant woman smoking. What infuriates me even more is seeing women smoking with children in the car!!!!!!! Can't they wait until their children are subject to it????