Smoking when pg

[mum5]

Well, quite a controversial title eh?
Just for the record, I am not pg, and do not smoke, but am just curious about this.I did smoke, until I surprisingly found out I was pg with dd1, then totally stopped cold turkey.
Since then I have come across a few mothers, who smoked whilst pg and nursing. One of the mothers said that her Dr. told her it was too risky for the baby for her to give up smoking, and that it was quite ok, and not to worry. So she smoked through her next 2 pregnancies also.
The other mother really quite frankly did not care, and smoked quite openly.

I am not being pious, as being an ex smoker, but just curious.

Any thoughts?

[Jujubie]

I cut down right after my BFP and then quit a few days later, pretty much cold turkey. I haven't missed it at all and I will try really hard to not pick it up again after this little one is born. DH just quit last week and so far has been doing well.

As far as smoking while pregnant, I decided it was something I definately didn't want to do. My Mom smoked with all of her pregnancies. I was first, born 6 weeks early and pretty healthy. Then she had 2 MC, then my sister Amy, who was born with a heart defect and only lived 7 months (1977). My brother was born, early as well, and has always gotten sick (pnumonia, bronchituis) very easy. He was also diganosed with ADD which could also be due to my mom smoking while pregnant. My mom never did quit smoking and died of a heart attack at age 47, another reason I needed to quit--I want to be around to see my grandchildren!


I know it is VERY hard to quit, I tried many times and it never stuck. But, I guess now that it just isn't affecting me, it hasn't been as hard to quit.

[gretelmom]

You know, I had no idea many people smoked while pregnant. Honestly, I must be so naive. THen I started looking at the Nov 07 due date club on babycenter.com and there have been a STARTLING number of moms who are still smoking at 7 mos pregnant.

Not only do they still smoke and justify it by saying it's too stressful to quit, that their OBs say its better to smoke than quit b/c of the stress, but they are INTENSELY defensive over it.

Honestly, it makes me really sad. But maybe I'm just totally elitist and sheltered. I smoked for 10 years, quit the day I found out I was pregnant, and still crave a cigarette every day. It was HARD for me to quit smoking, had tried so many times over 5 or more years, and yet having a baby made me quit.

Is it just me, or does it seem CRAZY??

[jazzybaby9]

I quit cold turkey as soon as I found out I was pg. I knew a woman who smoked right up through her labor and continues to smoke still. In my eyes, she is selfish and it really : me.

[chely7425]

I quite cold turkey the day I found out I was pregnant too... so did my mom, it just seemed like the right thing to do for me.

[Molliejo]

One of my closest friends did this. I will never understand. :

[chandasz]

I quit cold turkey the day I found out I was pregnant with #1 too (at 4 weeks)

It was the easiest quitting I ever did.

She has asthma and all I can say is that I cannot IMAGINE smoking once I had a baby or knew I was pregnant.

I will always wonder if my previous smoking had something to do with her asthma

[SharonAnne]

My mom quit smoking during all three of her pregnancies (me, then a m/c, and then my brother) but started up again shortly after we were born. I have no health problems, that I know of. My brother's got allergies, had a heart murmur that he outgrew, even had a brain tumor removed when he was 13! Did any of that have anything to do with mom smoking before or after? Not a clue.

My SIL quit for both her pregnancies as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Again, she started up again soon after.

I never started, having seen how hard it was for both my parents to quit, and so I never had to worry about quitting for anything I often wonder, particularly when my SIL's pregnant, why people go back to smoking, when they've quit during pregnancy.

I'd really like some opinions on this, if it doesn't hijack the thread too much

[Everrgreen]

My friend's mom was told that it would be better to just continue smoking then deal with the stress of quitting when she was pregnant, but that was 24 years ago! I can't believe this is still the advice that (some) doctors are giving.

[*Aimee*]

I smoked a pack and a half a day and had for near 10 years when I got pregnant and quit cold turkey. One of my friends' doctor told her that it was too stressful on her body to quit, and so she smoked a pack a day thru her pregnancy. She also got LOADED. I'm not talking a glass of wine here and there, I mean like bottles of wine when we'd go out to dinner. It was gross.

[chely7425]

I have a friend that was given the same advice about quitting being too stressful... but she was also almost 6 months preggo when she found out she was pregnant (she is a tad heavy and always had crazy cycles plus she had an anterior placenta) so the stress thing may have been a tad more valid... she cut way down though..

[StrongBeliever]

Ack... Smoking is just such a sad thing, altogether. My Mom smoked through all seven of her pregnancies, and for the most part us kids were pretty healthy... We didn't have any major defects. We all lived in her cloud for YEARS... With lots of colds, flu, and ear infections. She finally gave it up when I was 9 or ten, she quit cold turkey and hasn't smoked since.

I never started smoking because I saw ho hard it was for my Mom, and I was SO proud of her for quitting. Thank God she was able to set such a good example for some of us.

My oldest sister smokes... Has smoked through four pregnancies, and it currently smoking through her fifth. It really breaks my heart, because she KNOWS BETTER... Her kids might not have asthma and heat murmurs, but they aren't as healthy as they could be. She has become indifferent... Using stupid excuses(stress) and pure laziness("I just don't want to mess with it...") as reasons why she can't even try to quit. Saying she has tried in the past, and using those failures to justify giving up. I love her, but it makes me very sad for her that her she is willing to let her addiction jeopardize the health of her children, especially after seeing my Mom and our family go through the same thing.

Then again, smoking is right on par with many other "addictions" women don't give up when pregnant... We all know there are things we shouldn't be putting in our bodies, be it nicotine, excess caffeine, artificial sweeteners, soda, processed food, trans fat, chemical junk... But we still cram down that Twinkie or toss back the Diet Coke. Not trying to be righteous, I've shoveled down my share of crap-laden ice cream... I just think it's a sad place to be, and that people need to accept and admit it when they are doing something wrong and at least make an effort to change. Less Twinkies, one Coke a week, one cigarette a day... Whatever. But don't sit there complacently chain smoking/horking junk food/guzzling phosphates making excuses for your shitty addiction when it screws with the lives of those around you. Okay... Rant done.

[chely7425]

:

[OldFashionedGirl]

Originally Posted by gretelmom

You know, I had no idea many people smoked while pregnant. Honestly, I must be so naive. THen I started looking at the Nov 07 due date club on babycenter.com and there have been a STARTLING number of moms who are still smoking at 7 mos pregnant.

Not only do they still smoke and justify it by saying it's too stressful to quit, that their OBs say its better to smoke than quit b/c of the stress, but they are INTENSELY defensive over it.

Honestly, it makes me really sad. But maybe I'm just totally elitist and sheltered. I smoked for 10 years, quit the day I found out I was pregnant, and still crave a cigarette every day. It was HARD for me to quit smoking, had tried so many times over 5 or more years, and yet having a baby made me quit.

Is it just me, or does it seem CRAZY??

I was shocking to me, when I worked in a gas station, how many pregnant women came in and bought cigarettes. They all appologized when they bought them, and explained that that's why they were buying ultra lights (I always wondered why they were appologizing to me).

I always wonder if OBs REALLY tell them that the stress of quitting would be harder on the baby than smoking. I just have a hard time believing it.

Since I'm of the "occassional drink is fine" camp, I'd suppose I could be of the "occassional smoke" came, as well. However, occassional to me means once a month or less, and I know of few smokers who could stop at one cigarette a month.

Originally Posted by StrongBeliever

Then again, smoking is right on par with many other "addictions" women don't give up when pregnant... We all know there are things we shouldn't be putting in our bodies, be it nicotine, excess caffeine, artificial sweeteners, soda, processed food, trans fat, chemical junk... But we still cram down that Twinkie or toss back the Diet Coke. Not trying to be righteous, I've shoveled down my share of crap-laden ice cream... I just think it's a sad place to be, and that people need to accept and admit it when they are doing something wrong and at least make an effort to change. Less Twinkies, one Coke a week, one cigarette a day... Whatever. But don't sit there complacently chain smoking/horking junk food/guzzling phosphates making excuses for your shitty addiction when it screws with the lives of those around you. Okay... Rant done.

I understand where you're coming from, but I can't say I entirely agree. I mean, can we really put smoking and alcohol abuse on bar with Twinkies and Diet Coke? I'm not advocating the guzzling of Diet Coke, I just don't think that these things can all be lumped in the same category.

[Grace24]

Smoking's a tough one... it's a real addiction for a lot of people. Apparently nicotine is even more physically addictive than heroin... and if you've ever been a smoker (I mean a real smoker, not just "I have one once in a while") and tried to quit you know. I am an ex-smoker, as is DH. His dad smoked in the house all through his childhood and all three boys have varying degrees of asthma. I have a friend who quit smoking during her pregnancy and now that the baby's here, smokes all the time right in front of her. What was the point of quitting during pregnancy? I feel like she's doing just as much damage. How hard is it to step outside and smoke there?

Any-hoo, to me the hardest part of quitting anything, smoking included, is that you have to figure out what to do INSTEAD. So if someone's smoking for stress-relief, they need a support network or another outlet. Many people don't have that in place or know how hard it will be.

I don't believe the "it's more stressful to quit than to keep smoking" excuse... can OB's really be saying that??!!

[melissakc]

Crazy. Absolutely crazy. It's not fair to hurt someone else bc you have an addiction and "stress."

[jest]

My friend told me she knows someone who smoked through her pregnancy because she wanted a low birthweight baby. She thought it would make her labor easier.

I also know someone who's doctor told her she shouldn't quit smoking because the withdrawal would be too hard for the baby.

And my cousin spent 3 years ttc and even took fertility drugs, yet she waited until after she got pregnant to gradually wean herself from smoking.

During the childbirth class that I took when pregnant with ds, the teacher brought in a placenta that she had gotten from a birth the previous evening (she was the midwife's assistant and the mother gave her permission to take the placenta). The mother smoked during her pregnancy, and you could see where the placenta was starting to calcify and turn black.

[jazzybaby9]

It's true some doctors tell pg women that. My aunt said he had told her it would be too stressful to quit. What's more harmful to an unborn baby...smoking or the "stress of quitting", I'd say smoking. It wasn't even stressful for me when I quit cold turkey, it was easy because I knew it would be better for the babe.

[emo1221]

i smoked heavily until i found out was pregnant and took a month or two to wean myself off completely, until i was just taking drags of other people's cigarettes. I got to the point where i 1. felt like i was intentionally polluting my child and 2. wanted to vomit every time i came in contact with smoke, which is still where i'm at today.

i've heard women say their doctors tell them not to quit, but to cut back, and my cousin, for example, is pregnant with her fourth and smokes like a freaking chimney.

i don't really understand it either. i still get wicked cravings for cigarettes, and can't watch other people smoke, but it just seems so selfish to continue with an unwilling participant inside of me.

[momz3]

I'm not a smoker (never smoked a ciggy in my life actually) but I had a friend who, according to her, in spite of her best efforts, she could not quit smoking...even if she was risking the health of her baby.:
Thankfully her baby did not have any problems (as far as we know of)...but still...to me thats taking a risk as well as many other things expectant moms do