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Huh? Young Mother Claims Smoking While Pregnant Was Actually Good for her Baby?!?
There are some people have some pretty bizarre beliefs. While misguided opinions may harm just themselves, others do harm to more fragile and innocent lives, case in point? The young mother in Great Britain who didn’t just believe that there wasn’t anything wrong with smoking while pregnant but that smoking thousands of cigarettes while knocked up was actually good for her daughter. Huh?
Twenty-year-old Charlie Wilcox appeared on a British show called Misbehaving Mums To Be while pregnant and was under the impression that her smoking was helping her daughter and that by “cutting off the oxygen supply she made her daughter’s heart work harder, making her stronger in the long run.”
Wilcox stated that, “on a typical day when I was pregnant I would smoke a fag every 45 minutes, especially if it was the morning. I’d have a fag with every cup of tea I made. On an average day I’d smoke a minimum of 20.” She continued saying, “I love smoking. I love just having that something there to do. Roll a fag. Smoke the fag. Watch TV. Have another fag. You’re constantly doing something, so it makes it like a hobby.” And that, “During my pregnancy, I thought that if I was smoking so much and it was cutting off oxygen to the baby, then surely it would have made her use her own heart and the muscles she’d have to use when she was out. “
The young mother had been smoking since she was 14 and said that, “I wasn’t ready to give up smoking. I think if I’d given up straightaway, the stress would have been more harmful to the baby.”
Her baby was born about 10 days early and was a pound under the average weight for a baby girl, but thankfully is – so far – healthy. But even though she smoked like a maniac while pregnant she avoids smoking in front of her baby now and smokes outside. Better late than never I guess.
Do you think there should be some kind of laws against smoking while pregnant? Making it a criminal offense?
Photo: Flickr Miss Nathalie
Bad Example: Celebrity Moms Who Smoke!
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8 Comments
goddess commented on May 31 11 at 1:12 pmLAWS? Over what occurs in a woman’s body? Egads no! Women are not incubators and to pass laws over their bodies whilst pregnant relegates them to a status lower than any other American citizen.
What if I pushed through a law that banned all psychiatric drugs (including the designer SSRIs) based on dangers to the fetus and with no regard to the rights of the woman? Perhaps the benefits of those drugs to the woman are inconsequential when applied to the rights of a zygote, embryo or fetus…..
Kate commented on May 31 11 at 3:19 pmGoddess, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Jen W commented on May 31 11 at 4:30 pmThere is a concrete link established now based on a medical study that children exposed to tobacco In utero exhibit behavioral problems by about ten years old.
http://www.dailyrx.com/news-article/study-confirms-link-between-tobacco-smoke-behavioral-problems-kids-1493.html
Pretty condemning and shows mothers decisions directly affect the health of the child.
Rosana commented on Jun 01 11 at 8:50 amOf course there should not be laws. How else will these women become rich after their babies are born with health problems, if not, by suing the tobacco company? I am sure if more women smoked during their pregnancy in the US, we would have enough athletes to, one day, totally win the Olympics. You know, with those pre-birth well developed hearts and muscles.
Kristin commented on Jun 02 11 at 10:31 amI wouldn’t be against it. I am a mom of a micropreemie (not smoking related as I am allergic) and am at the hospital numerous times a day. This particular hospital deals with high risk pregnancies. I can’t tell you how many moms to be and new moms (nicotene gets into your breast milk) that stand outside smoking. Makes me sick. Also, I’m staying at a Ronald Mcdonald house. Most of us mom’s here have NICU babies. Most of the mom’s smoke. Don’t they know they are the reason the baby is in the NICU? If a mom smokes while pregnant or breastfeeding, i feel she is unfit. What she does before and after being pregnant and breastfeeding is her business but in that period of time, she is a mom first and foremost.
Stephanie commented on Jun 03 11 at 7:26 pmI know there are women that argue that so-and-so’s mothers smoked while pregnant and their children turned out fine. Alright, so not every child born from a smoking mom will have health issues, but why even put yourself in a position where you are responsible for inducing that RISK onto your child in the first place? That is what infuriates me the most about this whole smoking while pregnant debacle.
Another interesting take on this is looking at a woman’s socioeconomic status and how it correlates to whether she smokes while pregnant.. You’ll find no surprises there.
Mary commented on Jun 04 11 at 1:29 pmWhy is it that smoking while pregnant is wrong but abortion is ok?
Allie commented on Jun 09 11 at 9:54 pmI agree that woman who are pregnant should not smoke. Currently I have a friend that is smoking (A LOT) during her pregnancy. She insists that her doctor told her that is was “OK” to do so. Right. Needless to say, many people are not speaking to her.
It’s not the baby’s fault that his/her mother is a total idiot. C’mon, ladies. Have some common sense!
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