Smoking, drinking, and drug using pregnant women... are all child abusers. They're selfish and pathetic. & It's by plain luck that some of their babies are born healthy. I had my son premature at only 26 weeks gestation and I did everything right. I never smoked or abused. I ate healthy, I took my vitamins and made every doctor's appointment. My son was born with chronic lung disease at 1 pound 14 ounces. He was in an intensive care unit for 7 months. So tell me, why would any mother knowingly endanger their child if such things can happen when you follow every guideline? It's sickening to me. And being in the hospital for so long with my son, I saw a devastating amount of babies that were born addicted to drugs and had incurable issues due to smoking and drinking, that had parents that didn't even visit or care, that smoked openly while breastfeeding, and the list goes on. A mother is supposed to protect their child and love them more than themselves. Stop making excuses and quit for the quality of life of your child. These activites should be illegal while pregnant, but then again, so should abortion.

Oh, and if I were to see a pregnant woman doing this, I defnitely would speak up... I would probably tell them my story. I would hope they'd cherish the miracle inside them and take it to heart.

Quote: "Or should I just go on and mind my own business?"

Yes, because as far as I know there are no cigarette police for you to call and complain to.  Did you know that living within a five mile range of an interstate highway or an airport, you are more likely to contract lung disease than if you live outside that range?  It is the equivalent of smoking 10 cigarettes a day for a non-smoker (and from birth, if you live within that range) and there is a study out now that the more recent rise in canine lung cancer might be attributable to exhaust from these two sources.  Maybe we should not allow pregnant women, families with children, or people with dogs, to live within that five mile range.

This is not to condone or excuse cigarette smoking, but liquor causes actual fetal alcohol syndrome, which can affect a person's cognition for life.  I'd be more freaked to see a drunken pregnant woman or one smoking crack than lighting up a Marlboro.  If second hand smoke or smoking while pregnant did as much damage as it is rumored to, half the baby boomer generation, statistically, should have been dead of lung disease thirty years ago, since they were exposed to second hand smoke----a lot.

I can understand your concern, but it really is none of your business.  Someone else's cigarette smoking is the least of problems in this society or even world today.  You don't have to like it, but you do need to let it go.

My friend that was pregnant smoked the whole time. Her doctor said it would be more risk to stress herself out trying to quit. I think smokers are disgusting, I cant be around it. I know its an addiction and blah blah blah. If you think about smoking, its not just the chemicals in the cigarette that makes people feel less stressed. Smokers usually go outside to smoke, which means they are removing themselves from a stressful situation and then while they smoke they take long breathes in. WOW sounds like the same thing they teach you in yoga class, and that doesnt give you cancer! And not to mention, the action of smoking is a stress reliever because you are doing something with ur hands that is repetitive. Dont mean to be harsh but anyone who says they love their kids and smokes when they are pregnant or around their kids is a liar. I dont care what I'm addicted to, if someone says that there is the chance I could harm my kid (and I dont even like kids), THATS IT, ADDICTION OVER! You are just being selfish... (yea stone me if you want)

Health wise smoking is obviously not good for an unborn baby .. However, when I was pregnant my doctor explained to me that it would be more harmful for me to give up smoking (I was in a very bad relationship at the time and had very complicated life situations at the time), as the stress would have been more harmful for the baby then the smoking. My son was a healthy weight and has reached all his developmental milestones before the time he should have. Hes now 4 and I cant honestly say hes ever been really sick in his whole life. Hes a very healthy, smart and bright child. Of course at the moment im giving up smoking (day 16 today) and I wouldnt want to smoke during another pregnancy (because I did feel awful about smoking during my first pregnancy), but you have to realise that sometimes giving up smoking is more harmful then not giving up. I can completely vouch that giving up smoking in itself is a REALLY REALLY stressful and VERY hard thing to do .. and well .. being pregnant is another VERY VERY stressful and emotional time .. youd not know it unless youd been pregnant yourself. Its really really easy to judge people when your not in their circumstance - but believe me no mother wants to really smoke during pregnancy .. everyone would prefer to give up .. but sometimes its really just not that easy. Try to be more understanding I suppose.

plenty ~

smoking is nasty. period.

I saw a woman in a cafe who was noticeably pregnant in the process of lighting a cigarette.
I ripped it out of her hand and threw it away.
"That future child you're carrying right now is totally defenseless. If you intend to light another cigarette any time within the next few months, why not take a shortcut and just punch yourself in the gut good and hard a few times to speed up the damage a little, yeah? I mean, why else would you smoke if you didn't want to permanently harm your kid?"

She was far too stunned to form a coherent response.
Stupid bitch.

seriously, that is infuriating. 

actually i took a class at my college and any smoking or drinking you do whether it be the first day of your pregnancy to your last will affect your baby. hide behind "stress" if you want but if you wanted that baby you wouldnt be risking its life. the complications of smoking or drinking while pregnant can leave your baby from mildly to severly handicapped whether it be physically or developmentally. if it didnt matter the packs of ciggarettes you smoke that give you cancer little by little or the 6 packs that break down your liver slowly but surely wouldnt have a label that clearly warns you that if you are pregnant that you should NOT use their product. labels have warnings for a reason. so stand behind whatever reason helps you sleep at night but your wrong.

Quick health lesson for everyone: it might not be as bad as you think!!!

I'm not going to say that smoking is good for your baby, because it's not.  But if the mother was a regular to heavy smoker when she found out she was pregnant, it's not healthy for her to quit.  I'm talking half a pack or more a day.  Putting a pregnant woman through withdrawal puts her baby through it as well.  It would do her more harm to quit entirely than to just cut down.  Doctors will confirm that to mothers who smoke when they find out they're pregnant.

My sister-in-law and brother are smokers, and were going through about half a pack a day.  Blood tests and pregnancy tests didn't come out positive till she was almost three months pregnant.  At that point, it was too late for her to quit, and the doctors told her it will do more harm to her baby to stop smoking than to just cut back.  Withdrawal is hard on the human body, and is even worse on a fetus.  She cut back to something along the lines of 5 a day.  My nephew is a perfectly healthy baby boy with no birth defects or breathing problems.  If she'd put herself through withdrawal during her pregnancy, that might not have been the case.

If the mom's chain smoking, that's one thing.  That's outrageous and unnecessary.  But if you see a mom smoking a little every now and then, don't jump down her throat.  She might be doing the healthiest thing she can for her baby.

I think its disgusting. And stress is no excuse to smoke while you're pregnant.

@babykittytara@xanga - its funny how your so quick to defend the pregnant smoker because you have a niece or nephew who is the product of a smoking mother. your niece or nephew doesnt have problems NOW. just because the affects arent present now doesnt mean that that child will not suffer. i can send you the book that we were taught from and you can look through all the pictures of these children who did suffer not too long after birth and then you can tell me that the class i was taught isnt accurate.

@BLaCkiEe_xOx@xanga - No, I'm so quick to defend the pregnant smoker because it was recommended to her and other women by more than one doctor.  Check your medical facts on the entire subject before you go assuming that everyone who says otherwise is wrong.  It's not one of the 'rare exceptions to the rule', it's as common as being told to quit entirely.  I never once said that it's okay for all women to keep smoking during pregnancy.  It's unhealthy and bad for the baby.  But there are plenty of cases where it's worse to put the baby through withdrawal than to simply cut back.