Smoking During Pregnancy?!

[Emy725]

Ive heard from plenty of mothers that they have smoked throughout they're pregnancy and my cousin actually smoked cigarettes and marijuana threw her full pregnancy and the baby came out fine... my friends who have had babies actually have smoked cigarettes during they're pregnancy and the babies came out fine .. whats up with that? i hear that smoking is really bad and shouldnt be done during pregnancy .. what do you think about it?!?! have you smoked during your pregnancy?!?! do you think its ok?!?! i would feel really guilty smoking during my pregnancy but sometimes i feel really stressed that i crave one

[Ashelen]

I see that this is an old post and I always try not to come out rude or insulting, but I've got to be blunt. I think smoking while pregnant is AT BEST immature, and at worst, selfish. You can cut back if nothing else.

THE ONLY REASON I can speak about this (I'm not a smoker) is because before I was pregnant with my daughter, I took very heavy pain meds and anxiety meds for severe, debhilitating headaches that I've had all my life. I was taking lortab 10 4-6x a day some days, and xanax .25 up to three times a day because the pain was so excruciating. When we decided to TTC, I quit the lortab cold turkey, and weaned off of the xanax in 3 weeks. If you think quitting smoking is hard, try that. I had been taking both for about two years. I don't take anything now except occasionally if the pain is blinding my OB calls in Tylenol #3 for me, and I just live with the pain, even when I'm curled up in bed with my vision flashing for two days, because my daughter was worth it, and so is every future child I will have.

Yes it was hard, OMG, I felt like I was dying every minute of the day until it was out of my system, but I would never EVER have continued it with a baby in my belly, even though lortab is considered safe in small doses during pregnancy. Smoking is NOT safe even in small doses during pregnancy, and even if a baby comes out healthy it's almost like russian roulette.

If you are pregnant and smoking, don't hate yourself or beat yourself up with guilt. Just cut back one or two a week. Just slowly back off until you're down to the smallest amount if you can't quit. It's not safe or smart to smoke while pregnant, but if you can't live without one or two cigarettes a day, then that's that and it's a chance you'll have to take.

I know there are a lot of women here who smoked while pregnant who will attack me for saying this, but I truly feel like you can at LEAST cut back for your baby's sake. Just like people with caffeine addictions who cut back while pregnant, it's just something you DO for your baby. You don't have to quit if you don't feel like you can, but you do have to TRY to cut back. there's no excuse to not try, even if you don't succeed. You'll always feel better saying "I tried but couldn't do it" rather than " I just didn't try, it wasn't worth the effort".

I am sorry if I hurt any feelings, but this is a tough subject for me. My husband's cousin smoked a lot through both of her pregnancies and she went into labor early with both, both babies were born with low birth weights and weak breathing, and while they're smart children, the youngest is having a hard time catching up on speech and they both have asthma. why would you take that risk?!

[ty08]

i smoked through both my pregnancy and my first child came out fine he was a great weight 8 pound 7 and i was smoking a pack a day, i am yet to give birth with my second child... i feel so guilty for smoking whislt pregnant but its an addiction i tried to give up with both the kids and found it so hard, near impossible! I read some where online too when i was pregnant with my first son, that sometimes giving up smoking can harm the baby more then actually smoking due to the stress factor... didnt no whether to believe it or not... i think smoking through a pregnancy is a personal choice aswell.

[30something13]

long thread and wish I could of voted!!!! I know someoen who lost two children to sids from smoking during pregnancy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was able to have a third chance and stopped 1 yr before trying to concieve. They moved to a new house ( third hand smoke can do the same as new studies ahve found out, which is a home or car or clothes were the bbay is not around smoke but a smoke environment) and that baby was fine. Just becasue some babies ar fine why risk it! It casue many other things like allergies, cancer in children, loww immune health, they have lower brain cells from the lack of oxygen, sids, ow borth rate and failure to thrive sometimes after they get out. Why would anyone take that risk? THat babies life is in the mother havnds and you are not giving your vchild the best you can by smoking!!! Having the baby around smoke or in a smoke environment! My first son was around his paternal grandmaother twice and got ear infections both times, then I made her get a shower and wear clean clothes and her husband broght her in his none smoke truck fi she wanted to see him. He never got sick again!!!!! She was happy to do what was best for him!

[Limonada]

I don't agree with smoking during pregnancy....but with that being said, I've never smoked and don't know what it is to be addicted. But, really, smoking isn't good for ANYONE, let alone a developing fetus.

[SuzyOz]

I think it is a little bit ingnorant to say that even though some women smoke during pregnancy "the baby came out fine"

What may appear to be a healthy baby at the early stages may be deceptive, the child could develop cancer at a young age or could get asthma or any other health problems down the track as a result of selfish actions of a mother smoking. I think it should be a crime to smoke during pregnancy, it is abusing the health of your unborn child.

[KATE535]

I read some of the comments and JoyRenee's comment I agree with completely - the babies of smokers may seem fine when they are born but later in life they may well be more susceptible to health problem, especially respiratory problems and exzema.
Smoking is a definate No in pregnancy.