Pregnant women have always been worried. Whereas the concerns have changed over the generations, as gynecology and expectant parents have discovered more and more of what does and does not have an impact on the well-being of the unborn child.

Our grandmothers, who are inclined to believe in various predictions, believed that if a pregnant woman sees a monkey, she will give birth to a child similar to a monkey, or that if she hits the stomach, then out of fear she will leave a sign in the form of a hand on the child.

We tend to believe in the daily portion of newspaper and television reports ( usually as amazing as they are groundless ) and as a result we have other concerns: is the air we breathe polluted? Is the water I drink safe? Is my job, or my husband’s smoking, or a cup of coffee in the morning, harming my child’s health? What about dental x-rays?

These questions become a source of anxiety, which in turn brings you closer to a nervous pregnancy. However, they can become a support for actions that will bring an effect in the form of a healthy child.

I have been smoking since the age of ten. Will it affect my child’s health?

Fortunately, there is no evidence to suggest that smoking, even if started 10 or 20 years before pregnancy, will have a negative effect on the fetus ( Administrator’s note: this is fundamentally wrong ). However, it has been proven that smoking cigarettes during pregnancy, especially after the fourth month, can increase the risk of complications during this period. It is tobacco that is one of the main causes of problems associated with the prenatal condition, such as bleeding from the uterus, miscarriage, early separation of the child’s place, premature bursting of the fetal bladder or premature birth. Up to 14% of preterm births in the United States have been proven to be the result of tobacco smoking.

There is also undeniable evidence that cigarette smoking by the expectant mother directly affects the development of the child in her womb. The biggest threat is low birth weight. In highly developed countries like the US, UK, one third of low birth weight newborns is the result of cigarette smoking by their mothers. This low weight is the main cause of childhood illness and death of the child before, during or immediately after birth.

There is also another potential risk. Babies of smoking mothers are more susceptible to respiratory disease and twice as likely to die ( SIDS ) than children of non-smokers. Generally speaking, children of non-smoking mothers are much healthier than those of smokers. It has also been proven that children of smoking mothers may never be equal to other children, may go through physical and mental retardation for a long time, and may also be overly excitable children. Studies have shown that 14-year-olds whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were more susceptible to respiratory disease, shorter and less capable at school. Previously, it was believed that the cause of these phenomena was the malnutrition of women who smoked during pregnancy; these women smoked more than they ate.

However, existing evidence refutes this theory: Women who smoke and gain as much weight as non-smokers still give birth to smaller children. This is due to poisoned carbon monoxide and less oxygen delivered through the child’s place to the fetus. Gaining up to 20 kg of body weight during pregnancy can in some way increase the chance of having a baby of normal size, but such excessive weight is associated with other problems for the mother and for the child.

In general, when a woman smokes a cigarette, her child is closed in a smoke-filled womb. His heart beats faster, he coughs and chokes, and the worst thing is that due to the lack of the amount of oxygen delivered, the child is not able to grow and develop as he should. Studies have shown that the number of cigarettes smoked is very important. A woman who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day increases the risk of having a baby with a 130% lower birth weight.

Limiting the number of cigarettes smoked, on the one hand, is mandatory, on the other hand, it can be changeable, because a smoker often makes up for lost cigarettes through more frequent and deep inhalation of melon and smoking a cigarette to the very end. Such a danger also exists when a woman switches to cigarettes with a low tar and nicotine content. However, one should not be discouraged. Studies have shown that women who stopped smoking in the early months of pregnancy – no later than the fourth month – reduced the risk of having an affected child to a minimum. The sooner the better, but stopping smoking even in the last month can help ensure that your baby gets enough oxygen.

Some women who smoke will find it easiest to quit in the early stages of pregnancy, when an aversion to cigarettes develops—apparently a warning to a changing body. If, unfortunately, such aversion does not develop in you, try to quit smoking with the help of counseling. Ask your doctor to show you other methods of dealing with a bad habit. Maybe you’d better use hypnosis. Most people withdraw into themselves when they quit smoking, although the degree of reluctance is a matter of personal preference.

Some people feel an appetite for tobacco, sometimes they are nervous, restless, others feel tired, empty in the head and upset the digestive system. Most people cough more at first because suddenly their bodies are able to excrete the pollution that has formed in the lungs.

Methods for quitting cigarette smoking

First determine why you smoke. Do you smoke for pleasure, stimulation, or entertainment? To lessen the frustration, to have something in hand, or to calm the nerves? Or maybe you smoke out of habit, lighting a cigarette without thinking? If you identify the cause of smoking, it will be easier to find something to replace it.

Find a reason to quit smoking. You’re pregnant, so it’s easy. Find your own way to quit smoking. Do you want to stop immediately or gradually? One way or another, choose your “last day” in the near future. Schedule it for yourself so that it is filled with activities – those that you do not associate with smoking. Try to isolate your desire to smoke. Choose one or all of the following methods: If you smoke to have something in your hand, try playing with a pen, pencil; knit something , polish silver, write a letter, play the piano, learn to draw, make a couple of rag dolls, do a couple of crossword puzzles or play pentomino – do anything to forget about cigarettes. If you smoke cigarettes for flavor, then replace them with something – nicotine gum, fresh berries, steamed corn, one-time bread.

Avoid sweets, they are just empty calories. If you’re a stimulant smoker, try to find that energy in a brisk walk, an interesting book, so your diet has all the vitamins and minerals you need. Eat frequently to avoid feelings of fatigue and cravings caused by low blood sugar. — If you smoke for. entertainment or relaxation, try replacing smoking with exercise or relaxation. Or listen to music. Or go for a long walk. Or have someone give you a massage. Or play love with your husband. If you smoke for pleasure, look for pleasure in other activities, preferably those that exclude the possibility of smoking a cigarette.

Go to the movies, visit children’s shops, go to your favorite museum, concert or exhibition. Go to dinner with a friend who can’t stand cigarette smoke. Or play something like tennis. If you are a habitual smoker, avoid the environment in which you usually smoke and friends who smoke. Visit places where smoking is prohibited at the same time. If you associate smoking with a particular drink or dish, avoid those things or eat somewhere else ( let’s say you smoked at breakfast, but never in bed – then eat breakfast in bed ). When you feel the desire to smoke, take a few deep breaths, hold the exhalation between them, hold the last exhalation, lighting the match at the same time, gradually release the air and blow out the match. Imagine it was a cigarette and crush it in an ashtray.

To limit the amount of nicotine released, as well as reduce nervous stress, you should increase the amount of fruits, fruit juices, milk and vegetables consumed, temporarily reduce the amount of meat, poultry, fish and cheese; avoid caffeine, which can only worsen the nervous condition. You should rest a lot and move a lot to get the energy that you drew from nicotine. Let your mind rest for a few days. Do light household chores, go to the cinema or the theater as well. The worst effects of quitting smoking will only torment you for a few weeks, while the benefits will be obvious – for you and your child – for life.

My husband’s sister smoked two packs of cigarettes a day while pregnant three times, had no macaque complications, and gave birth to large, healthy babies.

Why should I quit smoking?

Each of us has heard different stories about people who succeeded – about a cancer patient who was given a 10% chance of surviving, and who lived to a ripe old age, or about an earthquake victim who lived for several days under the rubble without food and water. But there is something far less inspiring about a woman who – despite smoking cigarettes at the risk of her child’s health – manages to give birth to healthy and intact offspring.

You can’t take that kind of risk when it comes to your child’s health. And quitting smoking is one of the safest ways to have a healthy baby and ensure an easy and hassle-free delivery. Of course, there is a chance that despite smoking, you will give birth to a healthy child, but there is no guarantee that he will not be susceptible to one of the diseases described above. Your relative is lucky ( to a certain extent, this luck could be the result of genetic conditions that you may not have ). But is it worth the risk? On the other hand, physical and mental deficiencies may appear only later.

This seemingly healthy child may grow into a child prone to disease, overexcitable, and having learning difficulties. Consideration should also be given to the effects that cigarette smoking may have on your child when he is transferred from your smoke-filled womb to your equally smoke-filled rooms. Children of smoking parents are more likely to be sick and have more hospital stays during childhood. So quitting smoking is your only option.

When others smoke in your presence

I stopped smoking cigarettes, but my husband continues to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. Several of my co-workers also smoke several packs a day. I am upset that this may somehow negatively affect my child.

It turns out that smoking adversely affects not only the one who smokes, but also those who inhale the smoke. It also affects the fetus if the mother is near a smoker – a consequence of the fact that if someone smokes near you, then your child receives almost as many harmful substances as if you yourself smoked a cigarette. If even your husband is unable to quit smoking, then ask him to at least do it in another room, away from you and your child. Quitting smoking would certainly be the best not only for your husband, but also for your child. Studies have shown that children of parents who smoke are more prone to respiratory diseases that can last for many years. It is also more likely that these children will become executioners in the future, like their parents. You probably won’t be able to convince your co-workers and acquaintances to quit smoking for you, but you might be able to convince them to stop smoking. If there are laws protecting non-smokers where you live, it will be easy. If they are not, then do it very delicately – show them this book so that they can read about the effect of cigarettes on the fetus. If this fails, try to convince the management of your enterprise to issue an order restricting smoking to specially designated places, and which. prohibit smoking among non-smokers. If this does not work, try to move to another room during pregnancy.