Young mums-to-be are taking up smoking because they want their babies to be smaller when they are born.
That’s according to a ten-year study of smoking in Australia, where new research showed that some pregnant women believed a smaller baby would lead to an easier and less painful birth, regardless of the dangers cigarette smoke causes to a foetus.
Prenatal smoke exposure is associated with reduced birth weight, poor developmental and psychological outcomes and increased risk for diseases and behavioural disorders later in life.
However, inspired, apparently, by the health warnings on Australian cigarette packaging, which state that ‘smoking while pregnant can reduce the weight of your baby’ it seems young mothers-to-be took up smoking over fears they would have difficulty delivering.
Associate Professor Simone Dennis from the Australian National University told the New Zealand Herald:
“They were scared because they were small. The worst thing that could happen to them was to have an enormous baby. Some were young, 16 or 17 years, and their overriding fear was ‘Oh my God, I’m going to have an enormous child’, so they were actively using cigarettes to medicate against that.
“Some had even taken it up for the first time for that very reason, and some smoked harder, hoping the promise on the packet would come true. If you smoked more, you could make it better. I was really struck by that.”
If you are finding it hard to quit, talk to your GP or visit Quit.ie
