Smoking while pregnant

I know this might piss some people off, because they've done it, or their mums did it, or their grandmother's did it. And while I don't want to offend anyone here, I'm afraid I can't fence sit when it comes to smoking while pregnant. I have a very strong negative reaction to it, especially in this day and age, when we know, or at least should know (unless you've been living in a cave) how harmful it is to an unborn child to be exposed even to regular second-hand smoke, never mind a smoking mother.

Perhaps, you may argue, our mothers and grandmothers weren't aware of the full extent of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy - fair enough. But these days, I think to be aware it and still consciously do it, is incredibly selfish and indescribably negligent.

I've held off posting about this, because it seemed inconceivable to me that someone who has been voted 'Celebrity mother of the year' here in the UK, not once, but twice, is allegedly still smoking, despite being three months pregnant.

I've now seen it reported in two magazines, and a number of websites, and according to Star magazine:

A close friend of Kerry's family confirmed she is definitely smoking, saying: "She cut back when she was pregnant with Molly, 4, and Lilly Sue, 3, but has never given up."

For those of you in the USA or who don't read tabloid mags, Kerry Katona is one of those people in the UK that was in a band once, and now does commercials and has a column in OK magazine, but is still mysteriously viewed as some sort of celebrity, and is accordingly hounded by the press.

She has been quoted as saying, "My doctor said: If you're more stressed about not having a cigarette, you're better off having one. The stress harms the baby more."

OK, not all babies suffer visible negative health effects from smoking mothers, but the percentage of those that do, makes the odds incredibly dangerous, and certainly not something you'd want to risk. According to stopsmokingnow.co.uk

A German study showed traces of NNK, (nicotine-derived nitrosaminoketone) which is one of the strongest cancer causing agents found in tobacco products. It was detected in 22 of 31 newborns of mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

I appreciate it's a hard habit to kick - having quit myself, and still occasionally having one once in a blue moon when I have too much to drink. But surely the fact that you are carrying and therefore responsible for a life inside of you, is incentive enough to give up? The closest I can come to imagining what a fetus must experience, is having bronchitis or asthma and being stuck in a car with a smoker with the windows wound up. Something I've in fact experienced while traveling by taxi in Athens during a snow storm.

Photo c/o here