Smoking and Pregnancy

[Anonymous]

This is shameful, but I have not given up smoking although I am 16 weeks. I have between 3-7 a day. Any experiences of others who smoked through pregnancy or found ways to quit completely>

[Anonymous]

Self-loathing did the trick for me. Every time I lit up, I was consumed with guilt about how bad it was for the baby. I didn't even get halfway through most cigarettes before tossing them in disgust. I just couldn't enjoy my smokes any more. I had quit altogether within two weeks of my positive home test. I only had one relapse during my pregnancy, when my cat died.

[Anonymous]

Thank goodness I am not the only one...interestingly enough, I completely physically lost the desire for it during my first four or so months..it was one of those things that I physically responded to - in a negative fashion. My only words of advice and they aren't much is that you CAN do it. (If I can, anyone can) The biggest help for me, when I really think about it, was remove myself from as much of my trigger environment as possible. for me - it was the people at work (HAH! that sounds funny...) At work it was used as "brain break time" when I smoked. I had to find other things to do, which ultimately resulted in the internet. I sort of "scheduled time" for the internet for fun. I also FLOODED myself in iced tea.
The other thing that dawned on me, AFTER babe was born, was that it did matter what I put into babe's system. it is much less "real" at this point I think.
The best best best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Smoking while pregnant puts both mother's and baby's life at risk. Currently, about 13 percent of pregnant women in the U.S. smoke during pregnancy. If all pregnant women stopped smoking while pregnant, there would be an estimated 10 percent reduction in infant deaths in this country, according to the U.S. Public Health Service. Smoking while pregnant should be a cause for concern. Cigarette smoke contains more than 2,500 chemicals, with nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide thought to be the most dangerous to the fetus.
The sooner a mother quits smoking, the better it will be for both her and her baby. If you currently smoke, it's not to late to do something about it. Quitting during the first trimester can greatly reduce the risk of having a baby with low birth weight — almost to that of a woman who doesn't smoke. The fewer cigarettes a woman smokes, the less likely her baby will be born with smoking-related problems.

Tell your doctor if you need help quitting. If you are a heavy smoker and have not been able to quit or cut down, you may be able to use a nicotine patch to help you quit while you are still pregnant. There are risks to using the patch during pregnancy, but the risk of heavy smoking may be greater.

Even if you don't smoke, be aware that your baby can be harmed by people smoking around you. Pregnant women regularly exposed to other people's smoke during pregnancy may also be at increased risk of many of the same fetal development problems.

Smoking During Pregnancy: Complications
Smoking has been associated with a number of pregnancy complications. One is an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy. In an ectopic pregnancy, the embryo becomes implanted in a fallopian tube or other abnormal site instead of the uterus. With the rarest of exceptions, these pregnancies do not result in the birth of a baby, and must be removed surgically or with drug treatment to protect a woman's life.

Cigarette smoking also appears to double a woman's risk of developing placental complications (which occur in about 1 percent of pregnancies). These include placenta previa, a condition in which the placenta is attached too low in the uterus and covers part or all of the cervix; and placental abruption, in which the placenta separates from the uterine wall before delivery. Both can result in a delivery that jeopardizes the life of mother and baby.

Smoking during pregnancy also increases the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, and severe vaginal bleeding.

Smoking During Pregnancy: Risks to Your Baby
Smoking during pregnancy, which can seriously slow fetal growth, nearly doubles a woman's risk of having a baby with low birth weight. In 1998, 12 percent of babies born to smokers in the U.S. were of low birth weight, compared to 7.2 percent of babies of nonsmokers.

[Anonymous]

Studies by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also suggest that smoking increases the risk of preterm delivery (before 37 weeks of gestation) by about 30 percent. It also increases the likelihood of certain birth defects, including a cleft lip and/or cleft palate (an opening in the roof of the mouth or the soft tissue in the back of the mouth).

Babies who weigh less than 5 1/2 pounds at birth face an increased risk of serious health problems during the newborn period, chronic disabilities (such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and learning problems), and even death.

Babies of mothers who smoke are twice as likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) as babies of nonsmokers. Children who are exposed to cigarette smoke before birth also may be at increased risk of lasting problems, including asthma, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems.

Smoking During Pregnancy: After Baby Is Born
It's also important to stay smoke-free after you bring your baby home. Both mother and father should refrain from smoking in the house, and insist that visitors to do the same.

Babies who are exposed to cigarette smoke after birth face an increased risk of SIDS. They also suffer from more respiratory illnesses, ear infections, and tonsillitis than other babies. According to the AAP, an estimated 1.67 million physician visits each year in the United States are to treat coughing due to involuntary smoking. Infants whose mothers smoke are 38 percent more likely to be hospitalized for pneumonia during their first year of life than babies of nonsmoking mothers.

Smoking in the home during the first few years of a child's life also increases his risk of developing asthma. Continual smoking can lead to more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children who already have the disease.

Nursing mothers who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day will likely pass along harmful chemicals from cigarettes to their babies in breast milk. Heavy smoking can reduce a mother's milk supply, and on rare occasions has caused symptoms in the breastfeeding baby such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.

Sources: March of Dimes; American Academy of Pediatrics; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; U.S. Public Health Service; La Leche League

The information on this Web site is designed for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your pediatrician or family doctor. Please consult a doctor with any questions or concerns you might have regarding your or your child's condition.

Content courtesy of American Baby.

In laymans terms, you do not have a right to smoke while pregnant. You are being selfish and causing great harm to your unborn child. How guilty are you going to feel if you loose this baby over a cigarette. Yes, I am being mean, so what, so are you, to someone that can not defend them self. you are gross.

[Anonymous]

PP, save the sanctimonious rant. The OP was courageous enough to share something with which she's struggling and the last thing she needs is your condescension. She knows that she should try to stop smoking. Lay off.

[Anonymous]

too damn bad, I could care less about her, about as much as she cares about her baby. I hope she feels like shit over this thread, she should as any one that SMOKES during pregnancy. She will make a horrible mother. too bad

[Anonymous]

Thank God PP is perfect

[Anonymous]

I don't have any tips, because I don't smoke, but I just wanted to wish you luck. Others have quit completely--you can do it, too!

[Anonymous]

My husband threw out my cigarettes after I told him a was pregnant. A couple of months later I bought a pack after a really hard day at work and tried to smoke, but it made me really ill. I still have that pack in my pantyhose drawer and I haven't touched it since. Although I do crave what it felt like to smoke before I got pregnant, because I used to enjoy it a lot, I don't think I will go back. The thought of tasting those nasty things repulses me now. I even hate to be around smoking, people who smell like smoke, and places that smell like smoke. Getting knocked-up was the best thing to happen to me to break my smoking habit. I don't think I ever would have done it without getting pregnant.

You should really try to give it up altogether now and not look back. This is the best thing for you and your family. It may be hard at first, but you will not regret it. And after a few months of not smoking, you'll wonder why you ever got hooked on such a nasty habit.

[Anonymous]

Get professional help - enlist your family doctor if you are too embarassed to share this with your OB. Smoking is a very strong addiction, and I think that the fact that you are posting this shows that you do have what it takes to quit.

Ignore the sanctimonious perfect women who could care less about your humanity now that you have been reduced to a vessel containing LIFE.

Good luck - you can do it, and there's no reason to try to do this on your own.

[Anonymous]

OP, I sympathize. After 20 year light habit (like you 3-7 per day) I am TTC and have been smoke free for 6 weeks. If it's only 3-7 a day, it's really more of a psychological rather than physical addiction. For me it was ritual--I could quit almost everything except that decompressing after-work cigarette. I still struggle, but am trying "ritual replacement". I bought a nifty little tea kettle with its own built-in infuser, splurged on loose de-caf tea at teaism, and brew up a pot. The ritual of brewing the tea has started, slowly, to replace the ritual of wanting that psychological cigarette. Any similar type 15 minute ritual (walk around the block, etc.) may offer some help. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank God PP is perfect

no, far from perfect. But I would never ever cause harm to my child born or unborn. It is selfish, wrong and I wish it were illegal. There is no excuse. She could quit if she wanted to . She doesn't want to. It is more important to her than the health of her unborn baby. So, don't get pissed off at me because the truth hurts. 9 months from now we may be hearing how bad she feels because her baby is sick or dead. Pregnancy is not a recital, there really is a LIFE in her body that she choose to carry. She is responsible for this child. If it were already born and she was blowing smoke in the face of her baby you would not be defending her. What the hell is the difference? I find it sick any one is defending this person. She is poisioning her baby.

[Anonymous]

oh get real PP. "Sick or dead"? I have many friends whose mothers smoked like fiends during the 60s and 70s when pregnant and they all turned out perfectly normal. Studies on pregnancy and smoking are all focused on women who smoke 1 to 2 packs (20 to 30) cigarettes a day---not OP's 3-7. Is it bad for the baby? Yes. There are probably numerous other things that today's pregnant women do that will be found harmful in studies produced 20 years hence. Some of which you probably do/did. She is seeking support and constructive suggestions, not condemnation. She feels bad already.

[Anonymous]

she is not looking for help, she is looking for others that smoked too, aparently she has found many. I did not do anything that I know of that would harm my baby while I was pregnant, and none of my friends do or did either. As I stated before, I can not believe people are defending this monster, I refuse to read any more of this crap. She is evil, and you are evil for defending her. Godspeed to her child, it will need it.