Proven ways for a pregnant woman to quit smoking on her own

In recent years, women have become more dependent on smoking than men. Representatives of the fairer sex reach the top of the career ladder and often cope with male responsibilities and running a business much better than the opposite sex. However, at the same time, the fair half does not forget about their direct responsibilities and maneuvers between children, housework and creating comfort in their own home.

This often leads to neuroses. To slightly reduce the level of daily stress, a woman starts smoking. It seems to her that this particular method of relaxation is the most effective. The bad habit is so addictive that even the onset of pregnancy for some does not become a reason to get rid of the addiction. How can a pregnant woman quit smoking without harming her own health?

Why can't you quit smoking during pregnancy?

When faced with any difficulties, we always first seek advice from relatives and friends. “How did you quit smoking during pregnancy” is probably one of the most popular questions. Only, unfortunately, the answer to it is often very sad: “No way.” Many girls continue to “smoke” for 9 months. In fact, many people are unable to quit smoking during pregnancy, no matter how hard they try. Why is this happening?

For the same reason why quitting smoking altogether (pregnant or not) is not as easy as it seems. A pregnant smoker must first understand the essence of addiction and deeply understand all the negative effects that smoking causes. And only after that make a decision to quit smoking and find an effective way to do it. Alas, without personal interest, no advice on how to quit smoking during pregnancy will help, and the desire can only arise on the basis of knowledge.

This article was written to give girls information and thereby help them independently come to the decision to quit smoking during pregnancy. No intimidation, pressure on morality or calls for responsibility. Just the facts.

Why can't you quit smoking during pregnancy?

What's actually in cigarettes?

Before quitting smoking during pregnancy, it is advisable to learn about the raw materials for the production of cigarettes. If earlier manufacturers used actual tobacco leaves, now it is crushed tobacco dust, which includes almost the entire plant, including the stems.

Also, to make it easier to quit smoking during pregnancy, it would be nice to know exactly how cigarettes are made and what they contain. The most important thing is that there is no more than 12% of real tobacco in cigarettes, and the rest is various chemical compounds designed to “improve” the taste, reduce symptoms of an irritated throat and control the combustion process. These components include water, urea, nicotine, ammonia, saltpeter, flavorings and other “chemicals”.

If there is not enough information about how cigarettes are produced to stop smoking during pregnancy, then you need to listen to doctors.

What's actually in cigarettes?

Is there a dependency?

Perhaps smoking would not be so popular if everyone knew the truth about the composition of cigarettes and understood why the habit of smoking arises. In fact, there are practically no natural ingredients in cigarettes, as smokers believe. They consist of paper, a small amount of tobacco and chemicals, or resins. Thus, it turns out that smoking is nothing more than the consumption of poisons dangerous to life and health. How can you depend on this? Nicotine addiction does not exist at all, it is just a clever move made by large corporations in order to get rich.

Every smoker does not depend on cigarettes, he depends on the ritual that he observes every day. This is the same ritual as taking a shower every day, drinking a cup of tea in the morning or watching a movie in the evening. This ritual causes psychological dependence on smoking.

Doctor's advice on how to quit smoking during pregnancy

Typically, these recommendations consist of clearly demonstrating all the negative consequences that await a smoking mother and her unborn child. Gynecologists are confident that the situation when a woman continues to smoke during pregnancy is nothing other than the No. 1 cause of all adverse outcomes for babies. For a person growing in the womb, even diabetes or hypertension will be less dangerous than cigarette smoke, which contains more than 4 thousand chemicals, including:

• lead;
• cyanide;
• and more than 60 carcinogens—substances that cause cancer.

If you do not stop smoking during pregnancy, then all these dangerous substances will enter the mother’s blood, and therefore into the baby’s blood. All of them are extremely harmful to the developing body and provoke many complications, including premature birth, low birth weight and even stillbirth. The two most dangerous substances are:

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• nicotine;
• carbon monoxide.

Both of them, if you do not stop smoking during pregnancy, provoke oxygen starvation of the fetus. The fact is that the child receives oxygen through the umbilical cord, and nicotine narrows the blood vessels. As a result, the baby actually has to “breathe” through an ever-narrowing straw. At the same time, carbon monoxide interacts with red blood cells, “preventing” them from transporting oxygen molecules, which further increases oxygen starvation.

Doctor's advice on how to quit smoking during pregnancy

Lifestyle changes also apply to dads

It is much easier to get rid of a bad habit together with your other half. Quitting smoking is extremely important not only for the expectant mother, but also for the father, since smoking cigarettes by one of the parents will cause irreparable harm to the baby’s health. Nicotine, which constantly enters a man’s body, leaves its mark on the quality of sperm and its quantity.

A mother’s refusal to smoke will be the key to the baby’s good health.
Considering the fact that nicotine completely disappears only after 90–100 days, you should give up cigarettes approximately during this period. Future dads who do not want to deny themselves the pleasure of smoking cigars should remember that their habit can cause the following ailments in the baby:

• asthma;
• pneumonia;
• bronchitis;
• disturbances in the process of oxygen saturation of the circulatory system;
• narrowing of blood vessels.

Babies born to smoking parents quite often experience problems with the gastrointestinal tract. Girls may suffer from infertility in the future.

What will happen to the child if the girl does not quit smoking?

The risk that the baby will be born weighing less than 2.5 kg increases greatly. The risk of stillbirth also doubles. Moreover, during pregnancy you need to stop smoking - simply reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke is not enough.

If you carefully listen to the advice of gynecologists, it will become clear that for your unborn child there is no fundamental difference whether you smoke 1 cigarette or 10. Next, we will tell you in detail about the possible consequences that will arise if you do not quit smoking during pregnancy.

Weight and size

One pack of cigarettes a day, smoked by a pregnant woman, most likely leads to a decrease in the child’s weight by 200 g. If you think that this is a lot and no one smokes, then we have to disappoint you. We had women come to us at the Allen Carr Center who said, “I can’t quit smoking during pregnancy,” and smoked 2 packs a day. They were not stopped even by the fact that such a number of cigarettes could reduce the weight of a newborn by 500 g or more! Unfortunately, any advice from a gynecologist is powerless against nicotine addiction, which forces its victim to continue smoking.

Body and lungs

If you do not stop smoking during pregnancy, this can lead to a phenomenon such as the birth of a premature baby. Such a baby may have serious problems with the development of internal organs, including the lungs. Premature babies, whose mothers were unable to quit smoking during pregnancy, are forced to exist for the first days of their lives only under an artificial respiration apparatus.

The fact is that they have a delay in the development of their lungs, and subsequently they are likely to suffer from asthma. Also, in children whose mothers failed to quit smoking during pregnancy, the risk of such a dangerous phenomenon as SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) increases by 2-3 times.

What's actually in cigarettes?

If a pregnant woman does not quit smoking on time and continues to “smoke” in the first trimester, then the child may develop a disease such as heart disease. According to a study by American doctors published in February 2011, the risk of developing congenital heart defects in children of smoking mothers increases from 20 to as much as 70%! If you do not stop smoking during pregnancy, the baby is most likely to develop defects that impede the flow of blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs, and atrial septal defects.

As part of this study, doctors examined 2,525 children with congenital heart defects and 3,425 healthy babies. All these data were correlated with information about whose mothers were unable to quit smoking during pregnancy.

Brain functions

If a pregnant woman does not quit smoking, complications such as impaired intellectual development of the child may arise. Often, the children of such mothers are behind in learning, have a low IQ, an unstable psycho-emotional state, and behavioral problems.

Why is it as difficult for a pregnant woman to quit smoking as for everyone else?

What could be the consequences?

Due to lack of oxygen, the baby may develop hypoxia. Oxygen starvation leads to impaired mental development. Moreover, signs of such a deviation may not appear immediately, but only after several years. As a result of intrauterine hypoxia, the child will subsequently suffer from asthma, frequent bronchitis and other pulmonary diseases.

Toxic substances contained in cigarettes negatively affect all organs and systems of the baby. This leads to the following diseases:

• autism;
• Down syndrome;
• diabetes;
• leukemia;
• epilepsy;
• heart defects;
• cerebral palsy;
• pulmonary hypertension.

In addition, children at birth may have obvious physical defects: “cleft” or “cleft” lip, underdeveloped jaw, absence of fingers on the limbs, deformation of the skull, bowed legs and other deformities. They often have problems with hearing, vision and smell. Newborns sleep poorly, cry constantly, eat poorly, and become anxious.

A woman who smokes increases the risk of giving birth to a premature or stillborn baby. Premature birth with serious consequences and complications cannot be ruled out. As a rule, a small baby after birth ends up in the intensive care unit of a hospital, and doctors have to fight for a long time for his life.

Children born to a smoking mother often get sick and have very weak immunity. Some diseases may first appear only during adolescence. Their attention is scattered, they cannot concentrate, they start speaking late, do poorly at school, and are often irritable and nervous.

There is a high risk of sudden infant death. This can also happen 3-5 months after birth. This phenomenon has not been fully studied by scientists, but for some reason, it is mostly the infants of women who smoke during pregnancy who die.

Why is it as difficult for a pregnant woman to quit smoking as for everyone else?

The fact is that addiction is the same for everyone, it “doesn’t matter” whether a woman is pregnant or not. An addicted person craves a new puff, thinking that this will solve momentary problems and give himself pleasure or satisfaction. This desire turns out to be many times stronger than any information about the possible consequences that will arise if you do not quit smoking during pregnancy. Moreover, the period of pregnancy and responsibility for the baby creates additional stress. But what do smokers do when they are stressed?

Overcoming addiction with willpower is very difficult. As practice shows, up to 80% of pregnant women who managed to quit smoking smoke again after the birth of their child. This happens because psychological dependence does not loosen its grip. She can even withstand 9 months of abstinence.

Surprisingly, pregnant women are sometimes prevented from quitting smoking by their attending physician. Some people in white coats claim that if you quit quickly, stress will arise, and this is contraindicated for women in this position. But for some reason these doctors forget that the feeling of guilt that arises in a smoker during pregnancy causes even more stress.

We agree that some advice on how to quit smoking correctly and quickly can indeed be stressful. Although there is a simple way to do this easily, more on that later.

Ten tips on how to quit smoking for a pregnant woman

Rules and ways to break the habit

Quitting smoking should not be seen as a challenge. Try to think of this as freeing your body of unnecessary substances. You do this for the good - for yourself and your child.

When smoking, the psychological dependence is stronger than the physical one. This is a kind of ritual that helps you switch gears or, conversely, concentrate. To make refusal easier, come up with a new ritual for yourself - and something you can do with yourself when the urge to smoke arises.

Any methods that help you quit smoking should be discussed with your gynecologist. There are many restrictions for pregnant women, since even some folk advice pose a threat during the period of bearing a child. For example, the instructions for Nicorette spray indicate that pregnancy and breastfeeding are contraindicated. There is a similar warning in the instructions for Tabex tablets.

There are absolutely safe ways. For example, eating oatmeal is part of a healthy diet that reduces the desire to smoke and reduces irritability. If you are not allergic, you can eat radish with honey or drink chamomile decoction.

It is important to completely protect yourself from tobacco - for non-smokers, passive smoking carries the same risks as inhaling cigarette smoke.

Refocus on a healthy lifestyle - this will be a reason for pride. Walking in the fresh air, proper nutrition, and moderate physical activity will help you get into the right frame of mind.

Not all auxiliary methods that are often used by smokers are allowed during pregnancy. The use of chewing gum with nicotine is highly discouraged, since animal experiments have shown that the method leads to cellular changes in the fetus.

Smoking is generally prohibited. Smoking grass and hookah is prohibited. There are also many harmful substances in hookah smoking mixtures: both nicotine and carbon monoxide are dangerous to the fetus. Hookah smoking increases the risk of fetal malformations and mortality. Do not allow yourself to indulge in electronic cigarettes - some mixtures, in addition to nicotine, also contain dangerous components. Despite the fact that vaping is less harmful compared to regular cigarettes, it cannot be said that it is safe for the body of a woman and the fetus.

Ten tips on how to quit smoking for a pregnant woman in the early stages

If you ask those who have successfully recovered from addiction on their own: “How did you quit smoking during pregnancy?” - you will probably get one of the following tips.

1. Gradually reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke. This is the most common answer to the question of how to quit smoking if you find out you are pregnant. Because exactly the same rule is recommended for all other smokers. They also advise smoking cigarettes not completely, reducing the number of puffs or making them less deep. But that won't help! Delaying quitting smoking leads to the fact that a pregnant woman continues to poison her body. But the main reason is the cost of a cigarette, which becomes more expensive when you have to limit yourself. And as a result, the woman will not only not quit, but will also return to the same number of cigarettes that she smoked previously.
2. Try to forget about what you are forcing yourself to do. Think not about how you need to quit smoking during pregnancy, but about the fact that you are expecting a child. Thus, it will be easier for you to survive the forced cessation of cigarettes. And also remember that desire is created by nicotine. This is not your desire.
3. Believe that you are doing this for yourself. Often, before quitting smoking, it occurs to a girl that she is doing this solely for the sake of the child. This can lead to feelings of deprivation associated with rejection, which creates additional stress and tension that will take a toll on your baby. This is categorically wrong, therefore, only by quitting smoking for yourself, you will not see it as a sacrifice.
4. Don't look for throwing rituals. Sometimes before quitting smoking during pregnancy, girls perform a certain ritual. For example, they demonstratively throw away a full pack or break the last cigarette. This may give a short-term emotional effect, but no more. It must be a conscious choice to stop smoking.
5. Get started right away. Often, as advice on how to quit smoking during pregnancy, you can hear that you need to set yourself an X day on which you will finally quit, and prepare for it. This does not work. You need to quit smoking during pregnancy as soon as you find out about it. Any delay only prolongs time and reduces the chances of success.
6. Don't try to replace the "smoky" ritual. One of the main reasons for smoking, which makes it very difficult to quit during pregnancy, is the pleasant rituals in which smoking was present. The feeling of calm and relaxation that arises after smoking a cigarette with a cup of strong coffee, or memories of pleasant conversations with friends spent in fragrant tobacco smoke, is well ingrained in your mind. All familiar situations were tied to a cigarette. Therefore, you can enjoy these moments, because now there is no poisoning in your life and there is no feeling of guilt for the baby.
7. Make it difficult for yourself to smoke. How to protect yourself from relapse if you quit smoking during pregnancy? It is necessary to make sure that such an opportunity simply does not exist or that it is very difficult. Go to the hospital for safekeeping or go stay with non-smoking relatives for a while. And, of course, throw away all cigarettes, lighters and ashtrays. Why remind yourself of this nightmare.
8. Change your diet. Don't worry if during pregnancy you feel like you have an appetite. This is a good sign that means you are getting better. But there is one technical point: physical withdrawal from nicotine is very similar to regular hunger. Therefore, focus on healthy foods - for example, broccoli, celery, any vegetables and fruits.
9. Start playing sports. Physical activity during pregnancy will be doubly useful, since, in addition to improving the health of the body, it will help quit smoking. Choose what you like: swimming, water aerobics, yoga for pregnant women or something else.
10. Go for a consultation with a doctor. The doctor will not only tell you about the possible consequences of smoking, but will give medical recommendations on how to quit smoking during pregnancy. Perhaps he will recommend some medications, but in this case you need to be very careful, and here’s why.

Can pregnant women take Tabex?

Sudden pregnancy

Can pregnant women drink alcohol?

• liver;
• kidneys;
• gastrointestinal tract;
• brain;
• spine.

It is very important when registering at the hospital to warn the gynecologist that the mother smoked (smokes). In this case, the doctor should prescribe vitamin complexes with a high content of vitamin C and iron. It is equally important to review your diet and stop drinking cola, black tea, chocolate, and coffee. Instead, add a large amount of fresh vegetables and fruits, dairy and fermented milk products to the menu.

Several times a day you should take half-hour walks in the fresh air and under no circumstances be in smoky rooms. By adhering to these recommendations, you can reduce the harm caused to the body by a bad habit.

Can pregnant women take Tabex?

The answer to this question is given by the instructions for the drug. It says in black and white that Tabex is contraindicated for pregnant women. The fact is that this drug can provoke symptoms of nicotine poisoning. This can lead to serious negative consequences for the growing child. Among the consequences of taking the drug "Tabex" by pregnant women are:

• fetal intoxication;
• pregnancy fading;
• miscarriage.

How to quit smoking yourself at home?

The ban on taking Tabex by pregnant women also applies to breastfeeding women. The active substance of this medicine passes into mother's milk and thus can harm the baby.

In general, the issue of using medications in pregnant women is much broader than Tabex alone. A woman in this position needs to reduce her intake of any medications, especially those that supposedly help get rid of nicotine addiction. Tabex, Champix, and any drugs that work on the principle of nicotine replacement therapy are contraindicated for pregnant women. It is generally not recommended for anyone to take them.

Separately, it is worth mentioning whether pregnant women can take the drug Champix, which some consider more effective than Tabex. Side effects of Champix include hallucinations, loss of consciousness, depression and suicidal states. After reading this, any sane person would refuse to take such a drug. The problem of addiction is largely a psychological problem, so it is unlikely that even safe pills can help you quit smoking.

How easy is it to quit smoking during pregnancy?

Should I take pills?

There are a number of medications available to help cope with addiction. However, it is worth remembering that all pills negatively affect the health of the girl and her unborn child. Medicines can act as a psychotropic medication or a nicotine substitute. Pregnant women should under no circumstances take medications such as Tabex, Champix, Nicorette, Brisantine, nicotine patches and chewing gum. These drugs provoke an overdose effect.

For a short period of time, the smoker forgets about cigarettes, but it is impossible to completely get rid of the bad habit with the help of pills. In addition, medications are endowed with a huge number of side effects. Psychotropic drugs are also dangerous to health and cannot be used during pregnancy. Considering the lack of influence of the components of the medicine, there is no point in using such tablets.

In addition, their use can cause a number of consequences, namely:

• depression;
• loss of consciousness;
• hallucinations;
• suicidal thoughts.

To avoid harm to your own body and the body of the developing fetus, you should completely avoid the use of medications aimed at combating smoking. Only willpower and great desire will help you get rid of a bad habit forever, since nicotine addiction exists only on a psychological level.

Quitting smoking, being in an interesting position, is necessary not only for the health of the unborn baby, but also for yourself! You should not abruptly stop a bad habit and smoke a double portion of cigarettes after a day of abstinence. Any breakdown after quitting smoking will cause much more harm to the little person’s body than gradually getting rid of addiction.

How easy is it to quit smoking during pregnancy?

After reading our article, some may get the feeling that everything is very, very complicated.

• Can pregnant women drink Tabex?
• It is forbidden.
• Are there any other drugs?
• It's also impossible.
• How did you quit smoking during pregnancy if you cannot use any medications?
• By force of will.
• How difficult is it to quit smoking during pregnancy?
• Very difficult.
• You quit smoking during pregnancy, but what next?
• No way. I started smoking again.

But there is still a way to easily quit smoking during pregnancy. Contact us at the Allen Carr Center. This technique is fundamentally different from others because it works with the root cause of smoking - psychological addiction. You can quit smoking both during and before pregnancy. And you will need one day for all this, and without side effects! You will simply lose the desire to pick up a cigarette, because you realize that it is useless.

And then you can answer the question of how to quit smoking during pregnancy in one word: “Easy!”

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If the future father smokes?

Many people have heard about the influence of cigarettes on a man’s ability to conceive a child; there is a risk of remaining infertile. Naturally, smoking has a negative impact on this as well, but if the child is already conceived, then you should worry about eliminating passive smoking for the pregnant woman. It is difficult to assess the extent of harm caused in this case.

Some studies have found that depending on how much smoke a pregnant woman inhales, the effects can be equivalent to smoking 1 to 10 cigarettes a day. With passive smoking, the fetus is exposed to the same harmful substances as with active smoking, it is exposed to the same risks, although to a lesser extent due to the lower amount of toxins.

It turns out that the expectant father must either completely give up the bad habit or avoid smoking in the presence of a woman, regardless of her stage of pregnancy. Pregnant women are advised not to be in areas where smoking is permitted.