Want to be Smoke-Free? Congrats! Quitting smoking is the single most important thing you can do to improve the growth and long-term health of your baby, not to mention improving your own health! But we know it’s not easy, especially if you’ve been smoking a while. If the benefits of quitting can help motivate you, here they are:
By quitting and Reducing Your Exposure to Second Hand Smoke You also Reduce Your Risk of:
- Having a miscarriage
- Giving birth to a premature, small or stillborn baby
- Having a baby die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- Placental abruption and placenta previa: abnormalities which can cause third trimester bleeding, and premature birth.
- Having a child with asthma, problems with speech processing, irritability, conduct disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and nicotine addiction
- Having a child who is more likely to have ear and respiratory infections and allergies.
Tips to Be SMOKE-FREE!
- First, write down your reasons for quitting (or reasons for your partner to quit).
- Next, pick a quit date; write it on the calendar and commit to your quit date here.
- Ask a friend or your partner for their help.
- Set up rules for smoking—such as only smoking outside.
- Stay away from activities, places or people that make you want to smoke or that put you near smokers.
- Then, remove smoking reminders—cigarettes, matches, and ashtrays from your purse, home, work and car and clean everything that smells like smoke.
- Ideally, you should talk to your health care provider and your insurance company about tools to help you quit smoking.
- Make sure to take your prenatal vitamin daily. Find tips for choosing one here.
- Check your dietary intake of these nutrients, which may be needed in larger amounts if you’re a smoker: vitamin C and E, Vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid.
- Finally, even if you can’t quit, just smoking less will help!
Check Out these Quit Smoking Resources:
- Become an Ex: Lots of free quit smoking resources and a community with some specific info for pregnancy
- SmokeFree.gov: Free apps, tools & tricks
- SmokeFreeEspanol: Smoke-free tips and apps in Spanish
- SmokeFreeWomen: lots of tools including SmokeFreeMom and SmokeFree TXT–encouraging texting programs
- Canada Smokers Helpline: Canada’s online quit program with text messaging and free handbooks (English & French)
- 1-800-QUIT-NOW—Your state’s quit line (US)
- 1-877-44U-QUIT—US National Cancer Institute Quitline (English & Espanol)
- 1-800-227-2345—American Cancer Society’s Quitline(English & Espanol)
- 1-877-513-5333—Canada’s Quit Smokers Helpline (English and French)
This post was modified from Eating Expectantly by Bridget Swinney MS, RD.
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