smoking while pregnant, then and now?

Question

i was doing some reading and a thought popped into my head. everyday there is a some sort of question on smoking during pregnancy.

back in the 40's 50's and earlier there was a lot of smoking going on while pregnant. and mysteriously children turned out okay. nowadays, all sorts of problems are noted for smoking during pregnancy. Is it possible the reason smoking now is a problem because the chemicals in the cigarettes have changed since then? At one point it was argued that since it was okay then, it should be okay now. But after thinking about it, there's a reason for such a difference. So using that excuse to smoke during pregnancy isn't valid! what your grandma was smoking in 1928 isn't the same cigarette you are smoking now. even though i didn't smoke with my two pregnancies, i also thought the idea of smoking was not such a big thing.. .....now i'm thinking different about it. Has anyone else had this thought occur to them?

Answer 1

My mother smoked with all 3 of her pregnancies and my sisters and I turned out healthy, but there is no way a cigarette is even touching my lips while I am pregnant, I am due for my second child in september, I won't even let guests smoke in my house, before my 1st pregnancy I was a smoker, but not anymore I do not want my children exposed to it.

Answer 2

In the 40's and 50's, even through the 70's, not much research had been done on the harmful effects of tobacco. Tobacco smoke, and even plain chewing tobacco is harmful to you regardless of what additives are used. It is simply less harmful without the additives. More and more destructive additions are made to tobacco formulas every day, with each new brand. Even the pesticides used on the plants are more harmful. However, they were essentially harmful in earlier times as well, they just didn't have the resources and means to research them properly. They just didn't know it was bad. That doesn't make it any better for them.

As a word of advice to pregnant smokers, it is never going to be any easier to quit in your entire life that it is right now. While you are pregnant your body puts out a chemical and a hormone that make quitting your bad habits easier than it would be if you were not pregnant. Also, you have the added motivation of maintaining your baby's health. You may feel that you're not doing any serious harm, but I encourage you to do some research on the subject. The anti-smoking campaigns aren't just harping on you for fun. They're telling the truth. Smoking is deadly, and has quitting has more immediate benefits than you can imagine. Did you know that within half an hour of quitting smoking you are already breathing better, your lungs are functioning more fully, and your brain begins to fire more efficiently? That alone is worth it. When you add in the health benefits to your child that are gained by stopping smoking (lower risk of ADD, asthma, and many other disorders) it is almost a no-brainer.

I know the above sounds harsh, but believe me, I know exactly how harsh it is. (If you're not a smoker, you have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to quit. It is medically proven to be a worse withdrawal than heroin.) I smoked a pack a day for six years before I became pregnant. (Smoking lowers your odds of getting pregnant drastically and ups your odds of having a miscarriage.) I was extremely addicted, to the point where when I got up in the morning if I couldn't have a cigarette I wanted to die, I didn't feel I had anything to live for. When I found out I was pregnant I cut back to ten cigarettes a day for a week. Then I went to seven, then six, then five, and you get the point. I smoked one cigarette a day for several months (I found that last step of giving it up completely to be the hardest). Eventually, several months ago, I quit completely. I have not smoked a single cigarette since, and I and my husband could not be prouder. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Labor is going to be a breeze compared to that, even if I have a particularly intense one. And you know what, it was worth it. I have never done, and will probably never do again, anything that will benefit my health, myself, my family, and my soon-to-be-born son as much as quitting smoking. It was the best thing I've ever done.

Please, please, please think about what I've said. It sucks in the meantime, but two or three weeks worth of withdrawal is so worth the lifetime of good health for you and your child.

Answer 3

I think that between the media being able to sway public opinion and all the so called medical discoveries that have been made. We as a society have become fearful of just about everything we do or put into our bodies. I feel like its the old saying....." look out or the boogie man will get you ". Years ago we ate healthier then we do now and lived longer. My great grandfather a smoker, was 97 when he died and he past in 1962. Do the math. Oh about the cigarettes being different then, well by natural tobacco cigarettes then. There generally cheaper anyway.

Answer 4

Smoking has been documented to cause a lot of pregnancy complications. It is never advisable during pregnancy despite what you may start to think. Smoking is directly related to IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) and small gestational weight. The hypoxemia caused by smoking is a further mechnism of ill-effect on any fetus. Smoking also increases the risk of placenta previa and placenta abruption. Both serious conditions that increase both fetal and maternal mortalitity and morbidity. Cadmium is a chemical found in all cigarettes that has been discovered to bind directly to the estrogen receptor. So don't think scientists are just trying to say "smoking is bad." There are mounds of scientific research and evidence that directly related smoking to pregnancies complications in addition to lung cancer and all the other "bad" things you hear/read about.

Answer 5

Cigarettes now have more chemicals in them that are addictive then 40, 50 and 60 years ago. Same thing if a woman drank while she was pregnant. Back in the day a beer a day helped develop breast milk or enhanced it some way. Now it's no good but then again that's people saying it's no good with no real proof.

Answer 6

To begin with, fewer women smoked in the 40's and 50's. Also, they weren't doing studies to correlate birth weight to mother's smoking, birth weight to intelligence, and so on.
I was my mother's first child. She had two more. My sisters have considerably lower IQ's than I do, with my youngest sister having the lowest of all, just as current studies predict she would. She also had the lowest birth weight (mom was a heavy smoker). Believe me, whatever the chemical difference between cigarette smoke then and now, tobacco smoke still contains a horrendous mix of carcinogens and outright poisons.

Answer 7

MANY TIMES this thought has occured with me. My G'Ma smoked with my Mom in her belly and other than some panic attacks, she's fine! Then my Mom didn't smoke with us, but my Dad smoked around her which they say is just as bad and we're all fine too. My theory is that while we know it's not good for us and people back then didn't know as much as we do, they probably did have babies with problems...in fact, my Mom had rhumatic fever and her brother had schizophrenia. The other 2 were Ok tho....

Answer 8

It increases the risk, that doesn't mean it's going to happen. However you are right about the chemicals. The average cigarette today is loaded with chemical additives.

If you want to smoke without the Chemicals, Try a premium cigar, and wait until your not pregnant.

Answer 9

Smoking during pregnancy is too much of a russian roulette. Some have babies with problems, others don´t, but is it really worth taking the risk? For example, I have a friend whose mom smoked during her pregnancy but she came out fine. I have a cousin whose mom smoked during pregnancy and she was born oxygen-deprived with placenta previa and has learning disabilities and motor skill problems because of the cigarette-induced oxygen deprivation. Do you still want to risk it?

Answer 10

The fact is that is has been proved to harm; cuts off oxygen to the unborn child. Would one (normal person) put a pillow over the child's face while trying to grasp for air? That is exactly what is done every time one takes a hit. Except it is worse due to the fact that the fetus has not fully developed yet. It is selfish of any one to do. And in reference to how people used to smoke and that we came out normal is full of ****. If we are so normal why do we have to ask silly questions when the truth is every where.