Smoking and Pregnant

Just wondering who out there smokes and is pregnant????

I DO NOT WANT THIS TO TURN INTO A DEBATE.:pray:

Just curious with the numbers of who do. Because I know there are still women out there that do.

Just a simple 'I do' is fine.
And if you want to pop down your reasons behind it I would love to know, it is one thing that I am very curious about with the 'why' do it.

But please others do not start an argument over this I just want to hear honest opinions without lectures onto people who are being honest about it.:clap:

I dont smoke anymore but i did when i was preg with dd - i tried to stop and got so anxious about stopping (as i just couldnt) that my doc told me just to cut down to 3 a day instead of the stress of trying to stop.

I don't smoke anymore but I did quit when I found out I was pregnant with DS1 but started up again the week before he was born and didn't stop till I found out I was pg with DS2... I also smoked while breastfeeding..

I don't know why I did it. I knew the risks but maybe i was selfish.... I don't know.. I regret it now even though my son is healthy

Thanks girls for your honesty.
It's interesting to hear.
And congratulations to both of you for quitting now.

I did with both of my girls but i am not a big smoker at all - i even now, might go a day or 2 without one and then have 4 in one day. I always have a packet sitting around somewhere but it will last me a few weeks! NOt sure why i didnt just stop when pregnant...... I definately thought harder about it before i had one but it is my sanity thing!
Still smoking now.. some days i am hanging out for DP to get home so i can get out there and have some me time with my smoke!
One of my friends say its the only thing that has stopped her from screaming at ther kids all day - she just pops outside for a minute and comes back a different person...

i lurrrved a cigarette b4 kids. Then we found out we were pregnant with DD#1 and i stopped immediately. I never smoked thruout my pregnancy, and found it easy to give up. WHen she weaned at 8 months i tried it again ( so excited to try it) and it made me sick. I got no satisfaction out of it - that was over 4 yrs ago now.

I was speaking with my Aunty (58) and Nan (75) the other night and they said they smoked with all thier kids the only difference now is that we have to carry the guilt of knowing what it does to our bodies, where as they didnt.
I smoked with DS, about 3 a day and he came out perfect health at 8lb 2oz and we scored a 9 on the avtar thingy.... I have smoked on and off with this one..... I enjoy a glass of wine every couple of weeks too and have a smoke..... My mum is useless to me in trying to give up! hehehe...."i smoked with you 3 and you all came out fine" .... My brother and i were state runners back in our teens....

Its one of those things isnt it....... we have to carry the guilt of doing it and no one else...

im not a smoker at all, so i had no problems there!

my mum always says how she smoked while pg with me, she says in those days (even tho im only 23! lol) there were no warnings or advetisements on the dangers etc. no one felt 'guilty' doing it.

i came out fine! but personally, i tried my best to stay away from smoke at all times while pg... i do that all the time anyways, but being pg is easier, as people tend not to light up around you!

I smoked while pg with Emily, not as much as i did before i found out, DP would hide them around the house for me and i'd ring him if i really wanted one LOL (stupid, i know, but if i didnt have a pkt sitting in front of me i would want one) However, we both managed to quit when i was 6 months pg and havent looked back!!

I smoked... I found it extremely difficult to give up as I put so much pressure on myself and felt so guilty I actually made it worse and harder for myself. I think the less pressure from others and myself would've seen a different result. I did smoke less and don't smoke at all anymore :D

i am smoking at the moment, but i have just booked in for the allen Carr easy way to quit smoking clinic for this saturday :):)

it WILL be the end, i am so excited.

I smoked mildly with DS, more towards the end, i hated that i did and it was a huge cause of my PND.

I gave up before I got pregnant, then took it back up after I miscarried. In hindsight I shouldn't have bothered because I fell pregnant with Euan after one cycle, and found it really hard to give up the second time. I smoked about five a day, had cut down to a couple of drags per day within one week after finding out I was pregnant, then had completely given up about a week later.

DP still smokes - he's been trying to give up too but has not yet managed it - he only has one or two a day and doesn't smoke in the house. I'll be happy when he does quit but it is something he has to do in his own time!

Even though I feel much better for it, there are still the odd occasions where I feel like a cigarette. When I was about six months pregnant the urge got so strong that I asked DP for a drag just so I could cough my lungs out and realise that I no longer found it pleasurable. Whenever I feel the urge now I just remember how awful it was!

I counted myself lucky that I felt so sick when pregnant that the thought made me want to puke, otherwise I know I would not have been able to give up. Many of my friends still did whilst pregnant with no probs & I know my sis stresses about it as she is currently TTC & has been addicted for a long time now.
Best thing for me is I have not taken it back up...though, naughty, naughty did have a couple with my sis over the Chrissy period as it had been 8months since we saw each other & had a few drinky poo's.

I smoked until I was about 7 weeks pg with DD then quit until she was about 2, took it up and quit a few times over the following years. Got pg and quit then had a m/c and was so angry at my body i started smoking again! Quit when I was 10 weeks pg with DD2 and haven't smoked since although I still miss the "me time" and the relaxation of going outside with a coffee and a ciggy.

mrsmac congratulations, and please dont miss it!! i am sooooo wanting to be free of it!!

Thanks girls again for the honesty.

FWIW I do believe we are all entitled to our own decision when it comes to our life and making that same decision for the bub inside you no matter what.
But Also I do believe in the thought that every action has an impact on everything (good or bad) something can't do nothing or have no affect on something.

CONGRATULATIONS to the lady's who have quit again and those that are planning to.
And CONGRATULATIONS to those who still had healthy bubs regardless. (Hugs Shannon about number 3)

I smoked with all my babies barr this one i gave up 2years ago
(the day i walked into hospital to have my last baby how selfish of me).
There is nothing wrong with any of my kids at all(maybe to much energy lol).

I smoked socially when I was pregnant with DS1, he came out at 8 pound 6, didn't touch them with DS2 and he came out a whopping 9 pound 10!

I agree with the missing the smoke and coffee, I never picked it back up after having DS2 and I do have the packet I brought before I found out I was PG with him, and sometimes I'm like "Hmm, might go out the front and have a smoke..." and then one of the boys'll want me for something so I never get there.

Eh, won't hurt in the long run I guess:D

I've never smoked, but i did used to work in smoking cessation for the NHS, helping people to quit.

In terms of what it does to your body, nicotine is AS ADDICTIVE as heroin. But because it is legal and widely used, people who want to quit and find it hard have a lot of guilt piled onto them. You are not imagining it. It is really, really hard.

But the good news is that anyone who wants to quit (smoking or heroin) can if they get the right assistance. Quitting on your own is very hard, it's far better to have counselling and/or company - there may be quitting programmes you can join where you can talk to other people about the struggles and triumphs of the quitting journey. Most doctors are reluctant to prescribe NRT (nicotine replacement therapy- patches, gum, etc.) to pregnant women because the stiumlation of nicotine in any form increases the risk of miscarriage, but if you are a heavy smoker the risks of products like the nicorette microtab (which is low-dose and can be used only when you're desperate, rather than a patch which you wear all the time) are outweighed by the benefits of you quitting. It is always worth asking what help there is available, don't struggle on alone trying to quit this horribly addictive drug and don't let other people make you feel guilty about the fact you smoke when you are trying to quit.

The usual problems for the baby are reduced blood-flow through the placenta which can lead to slower growth, and chemical stiumlation which can lead to premature birth, BUT when a woman is very stressed she can make massive amounts of adrenalin within her own body which have similar detrimental effects and (some studies have shown) can even change the baby's brain as to how it will cope with stress after birth. Sometimes having one cigarette really is the lesser of two evils. Ideally life should not be so stressful that people need to smoke to cope, but bad things happen to good people. People get injured, fired, killed, ripped off, every day. If something awful happens and you reach for the cigarettes it's important to move FORWARD from that into your quit, and not dwell on beating yourself up for being "bad".

For those of us who smoke during pregnancy but quit before birth, breastfeeding appears to COMPLETELY negate any damage to the foetus (fully-breast fed babies whose mothers smoked for at least 2 months during pregnancy but then quit before birth show no differences to infants whose mopthers never smoked, the SIDS asthma and excema risks seem to be negated by boobie feeding) so feeding options can be a good place to start if one is feeling guilt or that one wants to undo any potential harm - there are lots of positive steps that can be taken from cutting down to quitting to breastfeeding.

For those of you who have quit and are missing the 3 minute smoke break in your day: how important is your child's welfare? In the old days you would make them safer by going away from them to smoke. They NEED unstressed mummies! This morning you make your coffee and you make sure the kids are safe and you pop out for a mum-break for a few minutes. It was important not to smoke around them, it is MORE important that you are able to keep your sanity, time-out is a valuable weapon in the war on stress and exhaustion. Take your break with a light heart, it really IS for the good of your kids.

Bx

i thought this was a very interesting thread. but the thign i noticed was out of everyoen that did smoke they didnt smoke lots. SIL smokes a pack a day or more if she is drinking. This would be far worse then just 3 or so a day woudlnt it?

@sassy - is SIl drinking while preg?:doh:

I smoked right through the fertility treatment, and up until about 7 weeks pregnant. I did feel extremely guilty, especially with people around me scolding me and telling me how much damage I was doing to my baby... but in the end it wasn't that that made me quit... I don't think any amount of scolding, scaring or guilt tripping is going to make anyone stop. In fact, when people told me what a bad mother2b I was being, I would get so emotional and reach for the smokes... I stressed about the damage I was doing, but smoked more because I thought it helped me calm down. I stopped because I had some shocking m/s (I also had to give up my caffeine addiction... :( lol) and smoking made it a million times worse.

It's hard when people to tell you all these horror stories, but have older woman (like my mother for example) saying that they smoked a pack a day while pregnant and smoking didn't cause any problems.

I smoked 8s, about half a pack a day... sometimes more, rarely less... and even though I'm only 21, I had been smoking for a few years.

cat: apparently SIL has stopped drinking but dp's step dad basically said it in the way that she hadnt drank the last few weeks cause she hasnt been able to keep any food or anythign down so she couldnt keep alcohol down either so yeah i dont know.
I had said to dp i think she will end up drinking through the preg because she was the type of person that would drink everyday and when she goes out has to drink to pass out basically. so i think she will find it very hard to give up. in sayint hat i used to drink maybe once a month but only liek a couple social drinks cause i was always the driver and i am finding it hard sometimes i just wanna have one drink but i dont and never will whil preg. so if im finding it har dthen she def will

well, i feel srry for her but much more sorry for the bub, how far is she? Maybe you could show her some of the things that can happen if she drink heavily.
I dont think there is anything wrong wth having a little here and there, but daily is scarey.

Hi all, was wondering if any ladies have been smoking pot and /or having trouble quitting during pregnancy? I don't want to start any debates, I myself have done a lot of research into the effects etc, I am 22 yrs old, 16 weeks pregnant with my 1st child, usually smoked 2 or3 cones a night with my partner and have been a big pot smoker since 16 yrs old, and have cut down to 1 cone every 2 or 3 days ( and no im not a dole bludger I have a loving partner and we both work). Any responses from other mums would be appreciated!

Hi tatoo mama,

congrats on your pregnancy and welcome to BB :)

I'm not in your situation but I just wanted to say good luck and well done on cutting down and trying to quit. Although I haven't experienced any addiction personally, I have a close family member who has battled with several and for many years and so has her partner so I can understand how difficult it is. One thing I know really helps though, is if your partner does the same, that is, cut down and try to quit as well so you can both support and encourage each other.

All the best xox

I don't smoke, but my DF does. I hate it but I know he's not going to quit anytime soon... He smokes inside the house, although only in the office, so whenever he lights up I just take myself out of the room until he is done and I can't smell it anymore. The worst is in the car, it's just a habit to light up as soon as he gets in. He does put the window down, and I cough and splutter to let him know that I do not like it...then stick my head out the window... He doesn't see anything wrong with it, his mum smoked throughout all 3 of her pregnancies and all the kids are fine, I just wish he wouldn't do it around me, especially in the car. Have talked to him about it plenty of times before, but he just doesn't get that I don't like it and hate the smell of it...

tattoo_mama I can't speak from a PG person and smoking perspective but as a former pot smoker in my younger days, I would have to say that only having one every 2 or 3 days you're just about there. I would say that if you really want to quit then you can do it easily and be smoke free for the remainder of your PG. The important thing I would imagine is support from your partner to take it outside and not smoke in front of you. Tell him to think of it as his first parental sacrifice, afterall he shouldn't do it at all in the house with the baby once it's born.
Good luck with it!

Hi tattoo mama, it's not easy giving up, is it? Sounds to me like you've done a great job so far.

There are a couple of things that you can do to minimise your THC intake (which will also make it easier to give up completely if that's what you're aiming to do). Perhaps try smoking joints instead of cones. The amount of THC you get in one hit of a bong is far in excess of what you get from a joint. Also, if you smoke hydroponic pot (especially high THC hybrid strains), try smoking bush grown pot which has much lower THC levels than some of the hydroponically grown stuff and usually has less pesticides/chemicals used in its growth. Also smoking leaf instead of buds will decrease the THC intake.

If you do want to give up but your partner doesn't, perhaps he could not smoke at home for a while to help you give up. Even if he goes outside to smoke (taking the 'physical' aspect of desire away from you), seeing him under the influence isn't going to help you with the psychological want to smoke. And an alternative to smoking that helps both relax and distract you (maybe a nice massage from your partner), will also act as a reward. Even if you give up now and your partner doesn't want to at this point, he might find that once bubs arrives he doesn't want to smoke. I know quite a few guys whose perspective changed once they had a little one, they didn't enjoy the sensation so much.

Hope this helps - good luck - and congratulations on your pregnancy!!

That's some great advice from Suse, and I'd also like to congratulate you for taking such a positive step for your baby. Giving up pot is not easy.

Another idea as you continue to quit might be to consider eating it, rather than smoking it - hash cakes or hash cookies. These don't have the respiratory side effects that smoking a joint or a cone do - the risk of lung cancer and lung disease, etc.

You should try and ensure you are pot-free before baby is born. Babies who are born to mothers who are actively using have to withdraw from the drug after they are born, and that can be a long and painful process.