Smoking and Pregnancy

We are often contacted by women who are either already pregnant, or are trying to become pregnant, and want to stop smoking.

One question they often ask is... "Is now a good time to stop smoking?"

Quite simply, the answer is that there's probably no better time to stop smoking!

Many women know that smoking during pregnancy brings a whole host of dangers to the unborn child (some of which are listed below), but what many women don't know, is the increased danger to themselves.

Women who smoke during pregnancy are far more likely (for example) to experience abnormal bleeding, difficulty breathing and increased coughing (due to the baby pushing on the lungs), and a lack of oxygen (as the baby gets heavier, the body needs more oxygen, which a smoker's lungs can't always produce).

The baby itself, is much more likely to be either miscarried, or stillborn, if the mother smokes during pregnancy. 

Four thousand babies will die in the USA this year
because their mothers smoked while they were pregnant.

Once born, the baby's potential problems don't end there.

Babies born to mothers who smoke, are often smaller, weaker, and more prone to disease, and suffer a higher incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Generally, the risk of 'cot death' (or 'sudden infant death syndrome') and death during childbirth is doubled for babies born to mothers who smoked while pregnant.

Brain function can be impaired due to the lack of oxygen during brain development, and, should either parent smoke after the baby is born, he or she is more likely to develop asthma, and can also suffer all of the other risks of smoking as they will be passive smokers themselves. 

If the mother who smokes is breast feeding, many of the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke are also passed directly to the baby in the mother's milk.  A baby breast feeding from a mother who smokes, has as much nicotine in it's blood as the mother.

So, if you are pregnant, or are thinking of becoming pregnant, now definitely IS a good time to stop smoking.

Click here to book your stop smoking hypnotherapy session today,
or call...

Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy sessions are held at:

Avon Hypnotherapy
33 St. Francis Drive
Chatteris
Cambridgeshire
PE16 6BS

and

Avon Hypnotherapy
The Hitchin Natural Therapy Centre
3-4 High Street,
Hitchin
Hertfordshire
SG5 1BH

(Please do tell us if you are already pregnant when you book).