# Pregnancy and Nicotine gum **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525 "2004-04-12T00:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/1 "2004-04-12T00:30:02Z")
All right, it’s time for me to quit smoking… I found out a few weeks ago that I am pregnant (first ever!). My husband and I are happy as two clams but I am a smoker… I just had a cigarette and told myself it was the last one. Sounds easy now, but I know tomorrow morning will be a different story. My doctor told me she’s rather have me on the patch than smoke. I have a few nicotine gums left over from a last attempt and want to start chewing (in moderation) tomorrow. Is it safe® for me to chew this type of gum? Are there any women out there that used gum while pregnant? Please let me know what you think, I don’t think I can do it cold turkey. Thank you all in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/2 "2004-04-12T00:39:49Z")
Better to chew the gum than to smoke. Lots better. Not _safe_, but waaay safer than smoking. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/3 "2004-04-12T07:10:16Z")
Is that true in and of itself (i.e. lower nicotine intake, lungs are more vulnerable than throat/skin, etc.)? Or is it just the case that people chewing gum/wearing patches are more likely to quit than someone smoking? A slight gum-related hijack. My father is still chewing the stuff 7 years after giving up smoking cigarettes (although he now smokes cigars). Now, I know that that’s stupid, but is it _really_ stupid? ---
**Author:** ![precipitate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@precipitate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/precipitate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/4 "2004-04-12T07:21:49Z")
> [@Bromley](#): > > My father is still chewing the stuff 7 years after giving up smoking cigarettes (although he now smokes cigars). Now, I know that that’s stupid, but is it _really_ stupid? Dunno, but my step-father’s oncologist, when he was dying of lung cancer, told my mother that nicotine alone is not a carcinogen. Potent poison, yes. Carcinogen, no. It’s supposedly the delivery mechanism via chewed or smoked tobacco that causes disease. But that’s probably its own question on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/5 "2004-04-12T13:13:01Z")
Thanks guys. I figure the gum is not good, but better than smoking anyway… ---
**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/6 "2004-04-12T13:18:26Z")
First of all, congratulations! 😃 I used to smoke, but during my two pregnancies have (obviously) have had to stop. I thought it would be hard as well, but you know what? It wasn’t. Maybe you should just try to go cold turkey. How much do you smoke a day? It was very easy for me to stop when I thought about the baby, and maybe because I smoked less than a pack a day. I was also wondering if there was some sort of hormone that made it “easy” to go cold turkey because aside from getting pregnant, nothing else has ever made me quit. ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/7 "2004-04-12T14:12:20Z")
Thanks! I hope it will be “easy”! I am only a few weeks and barely have any symptoms. I must have good hormons! So I admit it’s hard for me to understand something is growing inside me, hence I don’t have the full motivation. I used to smoke about 15 cigarettes a day… and for sure a pack if going out or something like that. I used to curse the new laws of non-smoking restaurants and bars and I know actually like it 😉 I have gone down to about 5 or 6 a day since finding out I am pregnant, I do well at work (busy) but I don’t do too well at home… I need to keep busy or something! I have had none today so far, it’s 10:10 am and on a “normal” day, I would have had about 2 already, so it’s not much but I am already proud of that! Pad my own back. I have chewed one piece of Nicotine gum, and I feel pretty good. I CAN DO IT! ! ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-nicotine-gum/239525/8 "2004-04-12T15:02:58Z")
YES, YOU CAN! And congratulations! I didn’t manage to give up smoking during my pregnancies but I have now. As of today it has been 1 year, 7 months, 1 week, 4 days, 3 hours, 3 minutes and 17 seconds. Not that I’m counting or anything. Really. Have a happy and healthy baby.