Smoking & Drinking in pregnancy

[Jedt]

when we did our ivfs in Rotunda..we used to have to walk past smoking "shed" to get to fertility clinic in grounds & i am sure it upset many of couples attempting IVf..having to walk enviously past the pregnant women in the shed puffing away….I was in myself for a while & couldnt believe amount of mums2b who kept popin out for a cigarette!!

but i do agree that when trying for baby if suffering fertility probs or even without issues its good to cut down rather than give up completely if you will be more stressed….I have seen more babies have problems with stressy parents than with the off glass alcohol or occasional cigarette….

10 years ago i would of been very anti drinking or smoking, but as i get older i become more tolerant as u begin to realise that some peoples lives are not ideal, in an ideal world of course people wouldnt drink or smoke or do anything to harm baby but life is often not that easy for some….

[Jedt]

TV3’s midweek show next week is looking at smoking & drinking in pregnancy.

Just wondering what ye think about it? Did any of you smoke while pregnant? Did you want to quit but could not quite manage it? What about drinking alcohol?

I would have the odd glass of wine now but did not in earlier pregnancies as I was too nervous I was doing something wrong….but reckon one or two a week is probably ok.

My sister is a smoker but she quit for both her pregnancies. She just did it, no patches or anything, she said it was great motivation for stopping.

[Babs]

I am very passionate in my belief that woman should NOT smoke whilst pregnant! Yes, it must be very hard to stop if you find yourself unexpectedly expecting, but the health and welfare of the unborn child is way more important than the addiction. I respect women who cut down and quit when they find they are pregnant, but I get so so angry when I meet women who claim that it is their "right" to smoke when pregnant…no, its your duty to ensure that your child is healthy! And fathers/friends/family should also respect that duty and not smoke around pregnant mothers….I believe this debate is similar to the issue of parents smoking on top of their kids, such as in cars or in small spaces…to me, this is child abuse!

[lyn11]

I personally really cant stand seeing people smoking in pregnancy. Every time I go to the hospital I see queues of people of all ages and bump sizes outside smoking. Itshorrible. With regards drinking a sensible one glass in a while doesnt bother me but as someone who works with young children from difficult backgrounds I have seen the effects of FTT and FAS first hand in many children. Knowing that just stopping drinking alcohol for few short months would have meant these children could be spared from this doesnt bare thinking about, I would do anything if I thought it was for my child’s benefit. I have seen children with heart problems, behaviour issues, growth problems, physical disabilities and developmental delay, is this really worth a few drinks?

[Fabienne]

Why is a glass or 2 a week ok and not 1 or 2 cigarettes a day if you manage to cut down from 1 pack to 2 ciggs a day and makes you calm and relax and if full cut makes you stressed and anxious (not good for baby).

I’m a non-smoker and can’t stand people smoking and not really tolerant with cigarettes (not enough), really I’m against smoke. Keeptelling my mum what lung cancer is and she has a friend with it and I just add an extra drama with all side effects of chemo. And when I was working on lung cancer research I told her how great it was to work on cells (loved it, loved working on cells not with patients, not enough a people person for that) but that thoses cells will survive forever but the person who gave them died so long ago in a painfull death.
So really I’m not tolerant with smoke.

But I read papers saying that sometimes it’s better to really cut down to the minimum possible but if too upset by it keep 1 cigarette a day for stress relief.

Also, I heard astory (in France) of a woman who has difficulties to concieve, having IVF, and trying to stop smoking with some kind of medication (because she tried with other methods without success) just in case she becomes pg because it will be good for baby to be. I agree but the medication helping her is in the other hand making her even more difficult to become pg, but no doctor is willing to tell her that she should still smoke a bit and give-up medication to have chances for a so long waited baby. So she’ll probably will never have a baby and she’ll probablt be a smoker all her life, she finds confort after each failed ivf in cigarettes…
It’s hard to do the right thing, and sometimes knowing what the right thing is.

Smoking in pg will mainly cause a smaller baby, drinking will mainly have neurological damages…
But yes am always horrified when I see a mum or mum to be smoke near babies and give "the look, at least they don’t get my spreach about cancer 😆 😆 .

A mum to be should not drink and smoke, but should not made feel guilty if she has an odd cigarette or an odd drink or an odd piece of unpasturised cheese.
All in moderation is my motto.
I had the odd glass of wine/ cider on my last 2 pregnancies, got lucky that it did not affect my babies. Never had a cigarette but never in my life, still I could die from lung cancer.

Fabienne

[happymumblemum]

Smoking is gross altogether especially when pregnant but is there any thing more scummy looking than mothers pushing buggy and holding a fag yuk yuk.
I gave up smoking when I found out I was pregnant and never went back on them.
And smoking ouside doesn’t help your baby it’s on your clothes yuk yuk yuk.
Drinking no wouldn’t drink either but odd glass wine, giuinness would be ok .
Agree with Babs on her points

[joeyrudd]

i personally hate eveything about smoking
smoking during pegnancy will give you a low birth weight early baby with health problems in life (i was born 2mths early and can’t breathe out of my left nostril….very strange) stop breathing a few times when born, all of my brothers and sistes had problems at birth due to smoking in pregnancy
whenever i see anyone smoking or drinking during pegnancy i just want to smack sense into them…i hate seeing it
i undestand that its an addiction but there are others who get over their addictions if they have to
it just makes my blood boild watching people smoking inches from their babies or kids and think its fine

i’m not perfect myself and i’m sure there are things that i do would bring up a debate about it… i just feel very strongly against smoking
smoke inhalation from fires could kill you so why do some people not think that puffing on a cigarette wouldn’t

[suzieQ]

I’ve been smoking for 10 years 😳 I gave up for my pregnancy on DD straight away and I also stopped drinking the entire way through the pregnancy I had 1 glass of wine (mixed with 7up).. DD is now 2. She was 6lb 13oz born and has had medical problems with her heart, chest and bowel since birth.
However, on DS I was 7months pregnant before I knew therefore was smoking maybe 8-10 a day and also drinking most weekends.. I stopped drinking when I found out I was pregnant at 28weeks but was told not to quit smoking as it would cause too much stress so I cut down to 2 a day. My DS was born 3 days early weighing 7lb 8oz. (I made the midwife check again as I was only tiny.. 5ft 3" and 7.5stone) Couldnt believe the size. He is a perfectly healthy baby now… He is 6months old now and is 19lb 1oz and so far is up to date mentally.
Although I dont condone people smoking or drinking during pregnancy i dont see a problem with just cutting back rather quitting…

I still smoke but never around the children.. I leave a dressing gown by the door and put it on before going outside to smoke and take it off, wash my hands and when possible brush my teeth before going near the children.

[Babs]

Whilst I agree with you Moonflower I have to say that I’m no spring chicken 😳 but still have the view that one should not smoke when pregnant!! I am a very tolerant person, life has made me so especially through the jobs I have done (I worked for years with families experiencing many challenges such as drug use) and I would never be judgmental on how people chose to live their lives…but once children are brought into the equation the issue moves from one of life choices to children’s rights. Yes, life is stressful and more so for some but that is no reason not to stop smoking for the health of the unborn child. In saying that, I believe pregnant woman should be given every support and all the facts so that they can do so, but I wonder is there any money in our country’s pathetic budget for this???? Somehow I doubt the health and welfare of the unborn child is given much thought if you consider the sad state of the services for the already born children of our state!!!!! 🙂

[Moonflower]

i know i am same & agree with you but have also seen myself (my stepsister was a herion addict & gave birth 14yrs ago to her daughter who was born an addict) very sad & even 14yrs later she still struggles with her adiction..her daughter thankfully is doing ok (was in foster care in early days but lives with mum now) its definately not an ideal situation but i look at her life & think once she got herself in that situation its very hard to break free & despite trying many times to separate herself from that environment she still struggles…

my mum is very judgemental but is powerless to help as is often case with addicts..but i try & be more tolerant..this is an extreme case i know & not really related to the mums who can attempt to stop smoking but choose not to….

[Taylor5]

I sent a bit of time in hospital on both my babies, i was a smoker of about 40 a day in my youth and it is an addiction and hard to give up, been there dont that got the t-shirt. If i was still a smoker when pregnant i know i would have stopped smoking. It makes my blood boil looking a pregnant women smoking, too see the mothers standing out in the smoking area in there pj’s and huge bumps made me feel sick, they smoke and made the choice, the child doesnt have a voice too say " Dont smoke mammy" Off the topic but too see people smoke in cars with little kids in the car makes me SO ANGRY!!!! Also how people smoke in their homes i will never know!
I dont think drinking while pregnant is a good idea either, I think i had a glass of wine once of twice on ds1 and i had a bottle of west coast cooler on ds2 at about 17 weeks and the poor child kicked and wriggled about for hours, i felt so gulity that my few glasses had upset him so much….. so that was that and never had another drop.

[pookie2]

I’ve never smoked – my dad was a chain smoker (one in bed in the a.m. before getting up, but gave it up ‘cold turkey’ when I was a baby nearly 40 years ago. Both my parents really anti-smoking. Of the 6 kids only one ever smoked & he’s given it up now. I understand that it is an addiction – but still it makes me uncomfortable to see women smoking when pregnant or wkith small children…..

I drank alcohol on each of my pregnancies – on first a glass of diluted champagne at my is-in-law’s hen (big bump didn’t seem to mind), think I had a hot port or two on the second (think I had flu & my mum believes in sweating things out….) & lost plot on third and had a half shot of dark rum in hot chocolate three or four times over the course of eight weeks of snow & ice…… I’m not beating myself up about it, though. In my normal ‘unpregnant’ ‘non-breastfeeding’ life, I’d probably have about a unit of alcohol a month….. Real wild child 8)

I think it is about balance – my sis-in-law actually refused Christmas cake or pudding or trifle … because it might have had alcohol in it…. Ah, seriously now…. 😆

I know the recommendation is none, but I think that is partially because if the HSE etc say ‘some’, well, ‘some’ for some people might be getting hammered two or three nights a week.

[Taylor5]

Hahahahahaha No Pudding, you have got to be joking 😆 😆 😆 Would she eat Wine Gums? Or would she refuse because of the name 😆 😆 😆

I dont see any harm in a glass every now and then, but too see young girls and bumps getting hammered, i seen it in the Star Bar a few years back and i was shocked. I think drinking to excess while pregnant can be more harmfull then smoking…..

[jacksmammy]

i smoked before i was pregnant and wen i found out i went off them completely, babas 7months old now n im still off them!! 😉 i never drank either i had 2 small bottles of west coast cooler at my 21st birthday party (17wks preggers den) n that was it!! its not fair on the baby.. 🙁 each to their own but i personally dont agree wit it!!!

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