Pregnant Smokers

[warwick.hoy]

That's a fair point and I'm not saying a pregnant mother who smokes isn't making a bad decision,...but I'm not gonna be the one to tell her. I'm not interested in being "that guy". The Surgeon General is already "that guy".

I might say something to my own mother it ever come up in conversation that she smoked while pregnant with me,...but that's different.

 

[Popbumper]

On this general topic....What amazes me more than anything, is this effort nowadays to eradicate everything that can possibly cause harm. OK, sure, scientific evidence clearly points to the dangers of many, many substances that DO in fact harm health, but the problems are more complex:

1) One individual will respond to a substance more than another. There is no "linearity" to chemical effect overexposure (especially since most lab studies are done on rats, and other small creatures). Medications are the same way - there is no one strength pill for everyone who needs it.

2) People, for better or worse, can choose for themselves. AGREED, the taxpayers suffer when the medical issues escalate - but has anyone ever considered (an example) that childhood obesity is NOT JUST because of diet? When I was a kid, we rode bikes, we played outdoors, we ran, jumped, swam, walked to school, marched in band, burned calories - and ate a lot of junk, a lot of sugar, a lot of fat. Most kids were skinny, aside from the GENETIC predisposition that some had. Today's kids sit with their arses glued to the couch and a handheld video game. Whose fault is this?

3) DO YOU WANT your government telling you how to live? What to consume? What NOT to consume? The push is on NOW.....

4) AMAZING how many octagenerians we have around today that led hard lives - worked in factories - smoked for decades - ate lard - were exposed to leaded gasoline - drank unfiltered water - had overexposure to the sun - used benzene - drank alcohol heavily - and for being their age, worn, are yet STILL ALIVE! Incredible.

So, getting back to the subject, I agree with the OP, BUT, disagree that it is anyone else's "privelege" to tell someone else they should not do something. It's bad, it sucks, it doesn't make sense, but that's reality. I am not a smoker, never have been, I remember when I was a kid and was in a closed car in the winter with parents who smoked. It was torture. I don't care for it, I'm glad that most resturants and public arenas ban it now, but if someone else wants to fill their lungs with smoke, it's their business.

In the meantime, the gov't can tell me all about the dangers of saturated fat, thank you very much, I'll eat my burgers.

Chris

 

[Webtroll]

So I get a call once in the middle of the night from a drunk girl who'd been in an accident and needed a ride home. She misdialed but thought she was talking to someone she knew and kept getting mad when I explained it so I gave up and told her I'd give her a ride home. I get to the hospital, and the drunk girl turns out to be pregnant. I'm not pleased with this but it's not really my business, I figure I'll drop her off and go home to finish the night (she has no idea who I am but continues to act like she knows me). So we get up on the highway and she tells me how she came to be in the hospital; she'd gotten mad at her friend and reached over, grabbed the steering wheel and caused her to crash. So,,, there I was at 3AM and 65MPH with a drunk pregnant girl who has just admitted to me that she caused a friend to crash because she'd gotten mad about something she's said. It was probably the only time in my life that I was ready to punch a woman, and had she made any move towards the steering wheel I'd have done it. Shame there's no moral and IQ test for getting pregnant, I'm getting she would have failed both.

 

[warwick.hoy]

The other thing to consider is that if a pregnant mother isn't going to heed the warnings of the nanny state,...then what makes anyone think she is going to listen to some stranger who takes it upon themselves to get preachy.

Lastly,....I'd advise anyone who thinks it's a good idea to get preachy with a hormonal pregnant woman,....best to check yoself before you wreck yoself.

 

[Quickie]

It's her "right".

 

[Quickie]

4) AMAZING how many octagenerians we have around today that led hard lives - worked in factories - smoked for decades - ate lard - were exposed to leaded gasoline - drank unfiltered water - had overexposure to the sun - used benzene - drank alcohol heavily - and for being their age, worn, are yet STILL ALIVE! Incredible.

No, that's called luck and or genetics. The FACT is, all that you mention, kill over one million every year.

2011 Death Mortality Toll of Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke, Obesity, Accidents, Iraq War

 

[Alkali Ike]

She knows but doesn't care so there's no point in saying anything.

 

[aborgman]

To each their own...

My Mom smoked throughout her pregnancy for both me and my sister. We both came out fine... but that was the late 60s and early 70s and before smoking was bad for people.

Smoking isn't good for babies, but unlike alcohol it doesn't tend to lead to birth defects. It usually correlates with slightly reduced birth weights and prematurity.

 

[Marlat]

I wonder how strong the correlation is between people who believe that mothers should not be allowed to smoke during pregnancy (because of possible harm to the unborn child) and those who believe abortion should be legal.

 

[john grey]

-=WOW=- this stuff turns political fast!

 

[Floyd Eye]

My view is mind your own business.

 

[Handyman]

What, cigarettes aren't healthy?

 

[Floyd Eye]

Eating at McDonalds isn't healthy. Arguing with your wife isn't healthy. Living in a major city isn't healthy. We should ban all that crap.

 

[spade2you]

-=WOW=- this stuff turns political fast!

Threads wouldn't turn political if they legalized weed.

 

[john turner]

To each their own...

My Mom smoked throughout her pregnancy for both me and my sister. We both came out fine... but that was the late 60s and early 70s and before smoking was bad for people.

This. I'm pretty sure my mother didn't quit smoking when she was pregnant with me, and I weighed damn near 12# when I was born.

did either of you guys have asthma as a kid, or now? there's some recent research that suggests a link between a pregnant mother smoking and her child developing asthma.

 

[Floyd Eye]

did either of you guys have asthma as a kid, or now? there's some recent research that suggests a link between a pregnant mother smoking and her child developing asthma.

Do you know what the leading cause of asthma in children is? It's cockroach feces. Maybe mandatory pest control should be implemented.

 

[spade2you]

did either of you guys have asthma as a kid, or now? there's some recent research that suggests a link between a pregnant mother smoking and her child developing asthma.

Unless things have changed since the last time I studied up on this for a grade, I thought it was more 2nd hand smoke than the mother smoking during pregnancy. Not that either matter since the mother will often smoke during and after pregnancy. I think it's evident that 2nd hand smoke is a big factor because children of mothers who didn't smoke could suffer just as much if someone else in the house was smoking.

 

[Quickie]

there's some recent research that suggests a link between a pregnant mother smoking and her child developing asthma.

John, as this may be true, you can just about find a "link" between anything nowadays. Just depends who's paying for the study.

 

[spade2you]

John, as this may be true, you can just about find a "link" between anything nowadays. Just depends who's paying for the study.

There are often agendas within published studies, but this is generally something accepted in medicine because one doesn't need to spend much time in a healthcare setting to see that this one has merit. Naturally, this is teh interw3b and I am wrong.

 

[john turner]

Do you know what the leading cause of asthma in children is? It's cockroach feces. Maybe mandatory pest control should be implemented.

probably, but what does that have to do with smoking while pregnant?

Unless things have changed since the last time I studied up on this for a grade, I thought it was more 2nd hand smoke than the mother smoking during pregnancy. Not that either matter since the mother will often smoke during and after pregnancy. I think it's evident that 2nd hand smoke is a big factor because children of mothers who didn't smoke could suffer just as much if someone else in the house was smoking.

they probably have. the study linked below is one of countless such studies that found a statistical increase in the prevalence of childhood asthma developing by the age of 7 in children whose mothers smoked while pregnant.

Maternal smoking in pregnancy, fetal development, ... [Am J Public Health. 2004] - PubMed result

while this has been suspected for a very long time, and the evidence has been around for a while too, the causes of these developments are not yet well understood, but evidence has been found very recently (may '11) that dna methylation occurs in the fetus that brings about a [This invalid link has been removed]

John, as this may be true, you can just about find a "link" between anything nowadays. Just depends who's paying for the study.

i'd like to see a valid scientific, peer-reviewed study linking smoking to healthy babies. i would imagine with all the millions of dollars they have at their disposal, the tobacco industry would be keen on making that link, and financing it.