Tobacco and pregnancy: it’s not easy to quit smoking while pregnant!

Getting pregnant, a motivation to quit smoking

About 17% (Perinatal survey 2016) pregnant women smoke. A proportion twice as high as in other European countries. Smoking while expecting a baby is risky. For his own health, first of all, but also for that of the future baby! It may take more or less time to really become aware of this danger. For many, getting pregnant triggers a great motivation to say “stop” to smoking for good. Hence the importance of continuing to raise awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco. If we smoke, we have more risks to make a miscarriage, to suffer fromhigh blood pressure during pregnancy, to have a baby born prematurely than those who quit smoking.

Smoking when you are pregnant: risks and consequences

Motherhood and smoking do not go together at all… The problems begin from conception. In a smoker, the time to get pregnant is nine months longer than the average. Once pregnant, the game is far from over. In nicotine addicts, the risk of spontaneous miscarriage is increased. Bleeding is also more frequent, due to poor implantation of the placenta. It is not uncommon, either, to observe stunted growth in fetuses of smoking mothers. Exceptionally, it happens that the baby’s brain also suffers from the effects of tobacco, by not developing properly … To top it off, the risk of premature birth is multiplied by 3. A picture not really encouraging, which should encourage us to to pick up… even if it is not easy at all!

Tobacco promotes kidney disease in the future baby

According to a Japanese study, smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of weaken kidney function of the future child. Researchers at Kyoto University found that in mothers who smoked during pregnancy, the risk of developing proteinuria était increased by 24%. Now a high level of protein in the urine means that there is a kidney dysfunction and therefore promotes the development of chronic kidney disease in adulthood.  

Tobacco: a risk of drug addiction for the unborn child

A new Anglo-Saxon study, the results of which appeared in “Translational Psychiatry”, shows that a future mother who smokes can affect certain genes in her unborn child, and increase your risk of drug addiction during teenagehood.

This study, which involved more than 240 children followed from birth to early adulthood, reveals in children of future mothers who smoke, a greater propensity to consume illicit substances. They will also be more tempted than children of non-smoking mothers by the tobacco, the cannabis andalcohol.

This would be due to the fact that certain parts of the brain linked addiction and drug addiction are affected by maternal smoking.

Smoking cessation & pregnant women: who to consult?

To limit the risk of kidney damage in your future child, it is important totry to‘quit smoking when you are pregnant. But it’s not always easy. You can (and it is important) to get help by asking for help from a midwife tobacco specialist, using the sophrologie, at’acupuncture, To thehypnosis and, of course, asking your obstetrician for advice. The Tabac Info Service number can help us find a coach to support us.

From now on, two nicotine replacement treatments (chewing gums and patches) are reimbursable by health insurance, like other prescription drugs. Since 2016, smokers have also benefited from a preventive action, the Tobacco Free Moi (s), which encourages them to stop smoking for 30 days in November. All these measures, as well as the generalization of the neutral package in January 2017, form part of the National Tobacco Reduction Program which aims to reduce the number of smokers by 20% by 2024.

Are nicotine substitutes possible for smokers?

Contrary to what many may believe: nicotine substitutes such as patches or chewing gums are not not at all prohibited during pregnancy, they are even recommended ! The patches deliver nicotine. This is better for Baby’s health than the carbon monoxide that we absorb while smoking! On the other hand, we do not go to the pharmacy without a prescription. We first consult our doctor who will prescribe the doses adapted to our case. The patch is applied in the morning, removed in the evening. It should be kept for at least three months, even if the urge to smoke has disappeared. As the psychological addiction is very strong, we risk cracking again … If we have an unbearable urge to smoke, it is better to take a chewing gum. It helps calm the urge and presents absolutely no danger.

Electronic cigarette: can you smoke during pregnancy?

The electronic cigarette never ceases to make followers. But when you are pregnant or breastfeeding, the use of e-cigarettes is not recommended, due to the absence of any data demonstrating their total harmlessness under these conditions. It is said !

Menstrual cycle and smoking cessation are they linked?

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States have unveiled a study which confirms that there is indeed a great time to quit smoking when you’re a woman. Indeed, scientists explain that the menstrual cycle is associated with specific hormone levels, which have effects on cognitive and behavioral processes, governed by certain areas of the brain.

Clearly, certain days of the menstrual cycle are more conducive to quitting smoking, explained the study’s lead author, Dr Reagan Wetherill. And the most favorable moment would be … right after ovulation and before you have your period ! To reach this conclusion, 38 women were followed, all premenopausal and smokers for several years, aged between 21 and 51 years, and in good health.

This study confirms that there are differences between women and men when it comes to making the decision to quit smoking. Women could also do better, simply by taking into account their menstrual cycles …