How To Quit Smoking While Pregnant

August 15, 2022

Get Help To Stop Smoking

Pregnancy FAQs : How to Quit Smoking Cold Turkey While Pregnant

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If you stop smoking now it will make a big difference to your health and the health of your developing baby. The earlier you give up smoking in pregnancy, the better. But quitting at any stage will benefit both you and your baby, so don’t give up on giving up.

If you’re finding it difficult to quit smoking, it’s really important to get help. People who get help from stop smoking advisers are four times more likely to quit successfully. Your doctor or midwife can guide you towards any help and advice that’s available.

You can also look for an app. Some give you daily tips, advice and encouragement, such as showing you how much you are saving and showing how you are benefiting from being smoke-free. The NHS has a quit app that has all of the above. You can put a scan picture of your baby in as motivation.

If You Smoke When Pregnant

Baby is 30% more likely to be born prematurely and have a low birth weight. Premature babies and babies with low birth weights are at greater risk of lots of health problems like infection, brain hemorrhage, heart problems and even blindness.

If your baby has a low birth weight it doesnt mean your labour will be easier.

The carbon monoxide from smoking means baby gets less oxygen in the womb. Babys heart beats too fast. Babys chest muscles dont have enough oxygen to exercise properly and get ready for breathing after birth.

When baby is born he/she may have withdrawal-like symptoms from tobacco. This may make baby jittery and hard to soothe.

You are more likely to have a miscarriage.

Baby is at greater risk of lots of other health problems including: glue ear,asthma, leukemia.

Baby is 30% more likely to die of Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy .

Quitting Using Medical Or Alternative Medicine Interventions

1Use a nicotine replacement. Nicotine replacements include patches, gums, and sprays, though you want to skip the tablets while pregnant. While nicotine may not be completely safe for your baby , it’s safer than cigarettes since it only has one chemical rather than the wide range of chemicals in cigarettes. Plus, it makes it easier for many people to quit. Make sure to talk to your doctor before starting on one of these regimens.XResearch source

The nicotine in these replacements can help with your withdrawal symptoms. For instance, you apply a patch to your skin once a day, and it provides a steady supply of nicotine to help reduce your cravings.

Generally, you taper off on these medications, as well. For instance, with the patches, you usually switch to a lower dose after 2 weeks.XResearch source

2Try Bupropion. This drug is sometimes used as an antidepressant, but it can also help you quit smoking. Science hasn’t quite figured out why it can help you quit smoking, but it can help for many people. Once again, you’ll need to talk to your doctor about this drug, especially since it’s a prescription medication.XResearch source

Unfortunately, this drug can have some side effects for many people. It can increase your chance of a seizure if you’re already inclined to have them.

Passive Smoking And Pregnancy

Even if you dont smoke, people smoking around you secondhand smoke or passive smoking can seriously affect you and your babys health. There are many risks to unborn babies exposed to passive smoking, some of which are:

poor health and growth of baby
low birth weight.

To keep yourself and your baby safe, ask smokers to smoke outside the house or car and try to remain away from them while they are smoking .

What Happens If You Smoke In Early Pregnancy

Smoking in early pregnancy deprives your developing baby of the oxygen they need to grow and develop something babies do a lot of early in pregnancy.

Even smoking prior to conception can contribute to serious birth defects. In one long-term study, a mom’s smoking before pregnancy was associated with a 40 percent increase in gastroschisis, where the infants intestines protrude through a defect in the abdominal wall.

An expecting dad’s smoking prior to conception can also be harmful to a baby. One study found that a dad’s smoking increased the baby’s risk of birth defects including abnormalities of the limbs, heart defects, and neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

If you smoked before you knew you were pregnant, don’t panic just quit. Quitting smoking before 15 weeks of pregnancy offers your baby the most benefits. In one study, pregnant smokers who quit in the first trimester lowered their risk of delivering preterm and small-for-gestational-age babies to a level similar to that of pregnant nonsmokers.

Get Support From Family

It’s far easier to quit smoking if other people around you aren’t smoking too. Its also important to avoid secondhand smoke, which can be just as harmful to a fetus.

“If there are other members of the family smoking, everyone needs to stop and quit together. Its very difficult for one individual to give up if the rest of the family are smoking,” Livingstone says. “Pregnancy is a window of opportunity for the whole family to make changes.”

Get In The Right Mindset

I know this is scary, but quitting smoking while pregnant is an incredibly positive thing for your baby. I want to help you get ready by sharing these things with you. Youre going to be okay and you can do this!

Get your support system involved: The more people who are behind you, the better off youll be when cravings come knocking on your door. Make sure you tell loved ones about your plan and ask them to stick by you through tough times. When the worst does happen, remind yourself why you wanted to quit smoking and take comfort in knowing that each day without a cigarette is one closer to being smoke-free for good. how to quit smoking while pregnant

Do You Know:

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Pregnancy And Stopping Smoking

Talk to your maternity care team about how they can help you. You may make a quitting plan together.You can also call the Quitline . Quitline counsellors will provide free support during your pregnancy and for some time after to help you remain quit. Aboriginal Quitline counsellors are also available.

If you are finding it tough to stop smoking, dont despair. It is never too late to stop smoking. Stopping smoking by the fourth month of pregnancy can reduce some of the risks, such as low birth weight and premature birth. Stopping smoking at any time allows oxygen to reach your baby more easily.

Benefits Of Stopping Smoking In Pregnancy

Pregnancy Tips : How to Help Pregnant Women Quit Smoking

Stopping smoking will help both you and your baby immediately. Harmful gases, such as carbon monoxide, and other damaging chemicals will clear from your body. When you stop smoking:

you will reduce the risk of complications in pregnancy and birth
you are more likely to have a healthier pregnancy and a healthier baby
you will reduce the risk of stillbirth

your baby is less likely to be born too early and have to face the breathing, feeding and health problems that often go with being premature
your baby is less likely to be born with a low birth weight. Babies of smokers are, on average, 200g lighter than other babies, which can cause problems during and after labour. For example, they are more likely to have problems keeping warm and are more likely to get infections
you will reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome , also known as “cot death”.

Stopping smoking now will also help your baby later in life. Children whose parents smoke are more likely to suffer from asthma and other serious illnesses that may need hospital treatment.

The sooner you stop smoking, the better. But even if you stop in the last few weeks of your pregnancy this will benefit you and your baby.

Also Check: What Happens If You Get Pregnant On Nexplanon

Nicotine Replacement Therapy In Pregnancy

Nicotine is very addictive and it is common to have strong cravings for cigarettes and withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness and irritability.

If you are really struggling to quit, you might consider nicotine replacement therapy . Licensed NRT products are free of charge, safe to use in pregnancy and can increase the chances of quitting successfully. The product eases the withdrawal symptoms by giving you small amounts of nicotine but without the harmful toxins and chemicals you get from smoking tobacco.

NRT is available in different doses, which are prescribed according to how much you were smoking before you stopped. You can then slowly reduce the amount of NRT you are using until you dont need it at all.

Licensed NRT products can increase the chances of quitting successfully. This is particularly the case when combined with specialist help from local stop smoking services.

How Do I Quit Smoking While Pregnant

Therapy for nicotine replacement users. You are allowed to take nicotine replacement therapy while pregnant if doing so will assist you in giving up smoking and you are unable to quit smoking without the assistance of NRT. During pregnancy, it is not advised that you use any medications to help you quit smoking, including Champix or Zyban.

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Baby Inside Put The Cannabis Aside

Choosing to carry a baby to term can be one of the most frightening things a woman faces in life. Even more intimidating is the prospect of caring for and loving your child for the rest of your life regardless of who they may turn out to be.

Do your best to ensure your baby will be happy and healthy forever by making your womb as perfect an environment as it can be. Your child has no need for THC during development, and any cannabinoids that reach his or her brain may cause skewed development that lasts a lifetime.

Make Your Home And Car Smokefree

Second-hand smoke also harms babies and children. Babies exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to develop asthma, pneumonia, croup and glue ear.

Every year,1,500 young children in New Zealand have ear operations because their ears are damaged by second-hand smoke.

Make your home and car smokefree . If people want to smoke in your home, ask them to go outside. Dont let anyone smoke around your children.

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Why Is Quitting Good For My Baby

Once you stop smoking, all kinds of good things happen for your baby. Quitting increases the amount of oxygen your baby will get, helping the baby develop and grow properly, and increases the chances your babys lungs will work well. Quitting also lowers the risk of several major complications, including premature birth , low birth weight and miscarriage or stillbirth.

Does Smoking Marijuana Affect A Babys Development

According to the opinions of several experts, a babys can be influenced by THC.Babies who are born to moms who used marijuana when they were pregnant do not display any major withdrawal symptoms.On the other hand, you could notice some additional shifts.

Research is still being done, however there is a possibility that a child whose mother smoked marijuana when she was pregnant could have issues as they become older.

What If I Smoked Before Knowing I Was Pregnant

It has been shown that smoking before to being pregnant does not have an effect on the unborn child.If you have been a smoker up to this point, it is better not to concentrate on the past but rather to work diligently on quitting smoking.Considering that smoking around a small child raises the risk of sudden infant death syndrome , the best course of action is, of course, to quit cold turkey .

What Will Happen If I Stopped Smoking Weed At 15 Weeks Pregnant

How I quit smoking while pregnant.

At 15 weeks or around four months pregnant, your baby has already developed a significantly complex nervous system and is beginning to resemble a human being. Some of the most fundamental aspects of embryonic development occur before the 15 week mark, but quitting weed at four months pregnant is still better than quitting weed later on in your pregnancy.

How Long Does It Take To Get Weed Out Of A Pregnant Person

Whether youre pregnant or not, it can take up to 30 days for cannabinoids you ingested to fully leave your system. In cases of light cannabis use, THC should fully clear your system within a few days.

Beware of detox products designed to flush THC out of your system if youre pregnant. These products are so powerful they might accidentally flush out your precious cargo along with your stored cannabinoids.

Managing Quitting Cold Turkey

1Throw out your cigarettes. To do this method, you simply need to stop smoking. The best way to start is to get rid of your cigarettes. You can’t have them around if you expect to quit smoking, so get them out of the house, give them away, or throw them away.XResearch source

While this method only works 1/5th of the time for the general population, pregnant women usually have a better chance of succeeding because they are motivated by the fact that they don’t want to harm their baby.

Some women think that quitting will put too much stress on the baby. However, the truth is, the stress doesn’t harm the baby, and you’re damaging them much more by continuing to smoke.XResearch source

Another option is gradually cutting back on cigarettes, so you have less of withdrawal. In other words, if you smoke a pack a day, you may cut back to half a pack a day the first week, then a quarter of a pack the next week. Finally, cut back to one cigarette a day, then none at all.

2Ask for help. Your friends and family will want to help you stop smoking if they can. Let them do it by telling them you want to quit and telling them the ways they can help you stop. For instance, they can help remind you if you take out a cigarette to smoke absentmindedly, or they can be there if you need to talk.XResearch source

They can also help you stay out of situations where you typically smoke. For instance, if you typically light up will playing pool, you may want to stay away from playing pool for a while.

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Smoking During Pregnancy Affects Your Developing Babys Health

Smoking during pregnancy can cause babies to be born too small or too early. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have a baby with a birth defect of the mouth and lip called an orofacial cleft.

Babies who breathe in other peoples tobacco smoke are more likely to have ear infections and lung infections, like bronchitis and pneumonia if they have asthma, breathing in other peoples tobacco smoke can trigger asthma attacks. These babies are also more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome , a sudden and unexpected infant death that has no immediately obvious cause after investigation.

Quitting Smoking While Pregnant: What Works

Quit smoking â while pregnant. A new smartphone app is available for ...

Nicotine patches, Zyban helped 4 out of 5 women, study says

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2016 — Use of nicotine patches or the drug Zyban helps pregnant women quit smoking before and after they give birth, a new study says.

“In public health terms, these results are significant because one in five pregnant women smokes,” said study author Anick Berard, a professor with the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Montreal.

“We already know that smoking during pregnancy increases the chances of miscarriage as well as low birth weight, premature birth and birth defects — events that are linked to health problems in children,” Berard said in a university news release.

However, the study authors added that pregnant women or those looking to become pregnant should check with their doctor before taking any medication.

The new study results will give pregnant women evidence-based options to quit smoking, Berard said. They’ll “also give data to health care professionals for them to prescribe the right treatment while evaluating the risks and benefits associated with each pharmacological method,” she said.

The study looked at nearly 1,300 pregnant women in Quebec. It found that 80 percent of pregnant women who used nicotine patches or Zyban were able to stop smoking. Even after they discontinued using the products, 68 percent of those who used nicotine patches and 60 percent of those who used Zyban did not start smoking again during or after pregnancy.

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So What Can I Do To Quit

Its important to have support while youre quitting. The good news is you can get support from a lot of places. Your friends and family, a health care provider or counselor or the BecomeAnEX Community are all great options for support. Check out the BecomeAnEX Re-learn support page for more tips and tools for getting the support you need.

Support To Quit Smoking

Its never too late to quit for your baby, your whnau and for yourself. There are lots of ways to get support to quit, including access to nicotine patches, gum or lozenges to ease the cravings and help you get and stay smoke-free.

Your Plunket nurse will talk to you about smoking during your visits, and this could be a good time to reach out for support to quit smoking.

Talk to your Plunket nurse, health worker, call Quitline on

Quitline

Quitline offers free support online, by phone and text.