Smoking while pregnant??

Question

My niece is pregnant and she still smokes. I know this cant be a good thing but will the baby be okay? Did any of you still smoke while pregnant? If so please be honest and tell me how your baby was after birth.

Answer 1

I do not smoke but wanted to share some of the info listed at the babyzone website.

Some of the problems associated with smoking during pregnancy are: Increased risk of miscarriage. Decreased weight gain before birth. Increased risk of abnormal separation of the placenta from the uterus before delivery (placental abruption). Increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) after birth. Decreased awakening to sound and a drop in the oxygen concentration during sleep. Apnea spells (brief periods when the infant does not breathe). If she smokes in the home after the baby is born, the child is also more likely to have ear and lung problems such as infection. There is no question that exposure to tobacco smoke before birth hurts the baby.

Some tricks to stop smoking while pregnant, that you could share with your niece:

Train yourself to think to yourself, everytime you take a drag, "I'm constricting the blood vessels and oxygen going to my baby." Because you are. This is why babies of smoking mothers are smaller than normal.

Another trick is to do the Babysitter test: Would you hire a baby sitter who forces your infant to suck on a cigarette? Of course not! But isn't this what you're doing? In other words, don't do to your baby what you wouldn't allow a babysitter to do.

These are not reprimands, but little tricks you can play on yourself to help you stay motivated, because the cigarettes will certainly play tricks back, like enticing you to that one cigarette after your success of several days ("One cigarette can't hurt, right?"--that's the cigarettes talking.)

Every cigarette hurts.

Even if the baby seems fine, it will not have developed as it would have without cigarettes.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

I worked with a woman who smoked about a pack every three days while she was pregnant. Her first child had major breathing problems and had to be kept at the hospital for two weeks before he was able to go home and when he was two months old he had to get eye surgery because of a lazy eye and a cleft in his lip. He is now 4 and I swear he acts like someone who just quit cold turkey, a very ill-behaved child. She then had a second baby and never stopped smoking while pregnant. Sadly, the baby girl died two days after being born because of lung problems. Unbelievably, she still smokes.

Answer 3

I have a couple of friends that smoked the whole time. One of them smoked a lot and her daughter was born with lung problems, and had to be on a nebulizer when she was little. The other one cut back to one or two a day for most of the pregnancy, and her son doesnt seem to have any breathing problems, but he has had a lot of ear infections, which they are starting to link to smoking. If you can get her to cut back it will help her baby tremendously. My mom smoked while she was pregnant with me, and I am fine. I was 2 weeks late, and almost 9lbs. So it all depends on the pregnant lady, and the baby. Each person is differant

Answer 4

I never smoked when I was pregnant, I quit the minute I found out. However, I've heard that it depends on how heavy of a smoker you are. My girlfriend was a heavy smoker and her doctor told her that she's can't just quit because the baby can have withdraws too so she kept smoking but moderately. I guess you should tell you niece to talk to her OB or doctor and get their expert opinion. I couldn't do it to my baby. Good luck.

Answer 5

The result is the baby grows less well than he might have done, and he'll be born lighter than otherwise. This might make a great difference to his health at birth.

There are also effects on brain development and on the general health of your baby, which have been shown to last into childhood, and even beyond. There is also a great deal of evidence that men who smoke when their partners are pregnant also affect the baby's health - whether or not the woman smokes herself.

Answer 6

I quit to be safe but my mom smoked (didn't even cut down) the whole pregnancy with me and my brothers, we all came out 7 lbs or better, no breathing issues, and have actually been very healthy. I had a friend who smoked and had a healthy 10 lbs baby. Im not crazy about the idea but sometimes I really think they just want people to quit thats why they say it. Doc I have kidney stones, oh well quit smoking lol. I don't know anyone who had problems with smoking. The few people I know who did not smoke had preeclampia and premature labor.

Answer 7

I do not smoke, never have....but my mother smoked with all 4 of us. All of us were born weighing at least 7lbs 9oz for the smallest of the 4 of us, and my i was the largest, 9lbs 1oz. I have heard smoking can cause low birthweight, but not in my mothers case. I know a few friends who have smoked, and all had healthy babies. I myself if i were a smoker would try to cut down/quit, but many people don't. There is always a risk they say, and i myself wouldn't do it, but i am also not a smoker, so i do not know how hard it would be to quit.

Answer 8

Additives in cigarettes
BENZENE.. petrol additive ARSENIC... rat poison
FORMALDEHYDE... embalming fluid AMMONIA...toilet cleaner
HYDROGEN CYANIDE... gas chamber poison
CARBON MONOXIDE... car exhaust fumes.

If your niece wants to continue to harm her baby, start the car and make her suck on the end of the exhaust. Obviously she doesn't care about her baby.

I don't care if your mother smoked and you turned out fine, there is no justification for putting these chemicals into your body while having a helpless new life inside you.

Defenders of this need to say it is ok to smoke and justify it because they weren't strong enough to quit. Look at the health warnings. Premature birth, asthma ....You wouldn't push your child in front of a bus, so why not start to protect them now?

Answer 9

Well my Mom smoked through out all her three pregnancies and all three of us turned out fine - no health issues (none of us were colicky nor did any of us develop asthma or any other breathing difficulties). None were underweight (8lbs and over) and none are "under achievers" as someone else posted. Indeed two of us were classed through out school as "gifted" the other as "above average".

While smoking isn't a good thing for the baby and there are health risks, she could have a child that is perfect and healthy and normal - just because she smokes doesn't mean baby will automatically have problems. Of course it increases the chances of many problems occurring but it's not a given.

I don't support it but nor do i condone it because i can't tell others what to do. People are going to do what they are going to do - you can pass on information to them but can't force them to do what you think is right.

Best of luck to your neice and her baby.

Answer 10

I know several mothers who were even more stressed out when they weren't smoking durring pregnancy. Im not sure which is worse, Stress or Smoking. Hopefully she can at least cut down some. The babies all turned out ok, but who knows what damage can not be seen that may cause them trouble later?