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Smoking While Pregnant
or Breastfeeding September 9, 2002The Impact of Nicotine, Smoking and Tobacco |
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Smoking While Pregnant
or Breastfeeding September 9, 2002The Impact of Nicotine, Smoking and Tobacco |
Imagine being born with a brain that's chemically addicted to and dependent upon nicotine. Imagine a breastfeeding mother who daily feeds her newborn what many scientists now consider to be the most addictive drug of all - nicotine. Although your unborn or new baby has far fewer habit triggers to recondition, true chemical withdrawal is probably no more challenging for your newborn than it would be for you.
Nicotine's half-life inside both of you is about two hours. Within a maximum of 72 hours your blood serum and bodies will be 100% nicotine free and chemical withdrawal will have peaked in intensity and began to gradually decline. No habit triggered crave anxiety attack will last longer than 3 minutes (look at a clock as your mind may try and convince you otherwise) and the most craves encountered by the average quitter on any one day is six (6) on day three. By day ten the average quitter is down to just 1.2 crave episodes per day. Can you handle 18 minutes of anxiety (6 craves x 3 minutes)? Sure you can! We all can!
Would you want your baby to eventually endure withdrawal alone or as its welcome into the world? Click upon and read all of the following links about how to navigate the first 72 hours of recovery. It isn't as difficult as you've convinced yourself it is. Do it now and do it together! None of us are stronger than nicotine but then nicotine's I.Q. is zero. Knowledge is power!
If you are looking for a website capable of providing high quality information and assistance in helping you break nicotine's grip upon your life then you're in right place! If instead, you’re searching for a website to reassure you that smoking or nicotine use is safe for you, your unborn baby, or your breastfeeding baby -- like some sites do -- then you probably need read no further. They're right. Statistically, although substantially increased, the odds are still in your favor that neither smoking nor nicotine will kill your unborn baby, but should that be the test? Fetal or infant nicotine addiction is not safe - in any form of delivery - and neither are the 4,000+ chemicals that come with every cigarette. There is always a price to pay. The only question is, how much will it cost your child?
Women who smoke during pregnancy are intentionally subjecting their pregnancy and unborn baby to increased risk of ...
- Autism - 07/02
- Asthma - 08/02
- Stillbirth - 08/02
- Clubfoot - 08/02
- Ear Infections - 02/02
- Premature birth - 02/02
- Low-birthweight - 08/02
- Ectopic pregnancy - 02/02
- Respiratory infections - 08/02
- Colic or excessive crying - 08/01
- Pregnancy complications - 08/02
- Abnormal lung development - 01/02
- A higher rate of infant mortality - - 08/02
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) - 09/02
- Oral clefts in the lip and/or palate - 01/02 02/00
- Optic nerve hypoplasia and visual impairment - 06/02
- Placental abruption and placenta previa - 10/01 11/96
- Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - 04/02 10/98
- 50% greater chance of mental retardation (I.Q. less than 70) - 04/96
- Diminished future fertility (fewer eggs) of your unborn daughter - 04/99
- An average of over $700 in extra neonatal costs per smoking mother - 04/02
The number of web sites and articles that advise smoking mothers that the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the risks posed by smoking is shocking. Most ignore the baby as a person who is subject to all other recent studies relating to nicotine addiction, nicotine's harms, smoking's other risks, including the risks posed by second-hand smoke. For example, if a mother abstained from smoking while pregnant, how long will it take to hook her new baby on nicotine if she returns to smoking while breastfeeding? A new study just released presents strong evidence that it may only take a few cigarettes a day for a few weeks to addict a full grown teenager. What evidence do we have to suggest that the outcome is any different for a small baby?Included in the risks below are risks identified in other recent studies. I've provided at least one link to articles discussing each risk. I recommend that you review each and decide for yourself whether or not they'd have application to a newborn. For example, if nicotine is believed to causes chronic depression, brain damage and learning impairment in new teen smokers, what evidence is there to suggest that feeding your baby nicotine via your milk wouldn't do the same? Although extremely difficult to develop any medical study to measure depression or intelligence in newborns, does that mean we should ignore such studies when it comes to breastfeeding?
Women who smoke while breastfeeding may subject their baby to the risk of ...
- Addiction - 05/02
- Atherosclerosis - 07/01
- Middle ear infections - 02/02
- Less breast milk - 12/91 12/92
- Destruction of brain cells - 05/02
- Colic or excessive crying - 03/89
- Circulatory damage - 07/01 07/01
- Chronic Depression - 10/00 10/00
- Not being able to initiate breast feeding - 07/02
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) - 09/02 11/97
- Decrease in your child's ability to learn or memorize - 05/02
- Not wanting to initiate breast feeding due to smoking - 1999
- 70% increase in respiratory infections for first 6 months - 12/96
- Growth of brain neurons to process nicotine - 05/02 03/02 11/95
Additional Links
U.K.'s National Health Service on Pregnancy and Smoking
U.S. Center on Disease Control's (CDC) Fact Sheet on Smoking and Pregnancy
U.S. National Institute of Health on Passive Smoking Harms
Supporting Views on Breastfeeding While Smoking
American Lung Association's Advice to Pregnant or Breastfeeding Mothers
Opposing Views on Breastfeeding While Smoking
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