# Smoking while preggers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 26, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691 "2014-06-26T13:48:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/1 "2014-06-26T13:48:37Z")
While waiting for the bus at Wal~Mart I overheard 2 employees talking about wearing a back support belt while pregnant… The one said she was too far along to wear one. The pregnant one was smoking…puffing right along while talking about not wearing the belt because of fears for her baby’s safety… I started to point out her folly,but decided that I would follow my credo…Do what you will,if it harms no others – but there is the poor passenger baby:dubious: In your humble opion,what would you do?? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/2 "2014-06-26T13:52:39Z")
I wouldn’t have said anything. She already knows. ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/3 "2014-06-26T13:58:32Z")
I try not to stick my nose in – but if someone asks for my opinion,they’ll get it! She didn’t,so I zipped my yap. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/4 "2014-06-26T14:13:41Z")
I’d have kept my yap shut, too. She knows the smoke isn’t good for the baby. Also, while I agree that smoking while pregnant is kind of a biggie, being pregnant does feel like a death from a thousand cuts, as far as stuff you’re “supposed” and “not supposed” to do. Pregnant women are paranoid and miserable enough without bossy strangers poking their noses in. Did I miscarry my fourth pregnancy because I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to eat unpasteurized cheese? Possibly. I really, really don’t need anyone to point it out to me, though. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/5 "2014-06-26T14:42:50Z")
I cringe when I see it, but the fact is it’s not your business unless you’re her doctor. Saying something is not likely to get a nice response. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/6 "2014-06-26T14:48:18Z")
I wouldn’t have said anything. If this woman is capable of getting herself out of the house in the morning, she knows smoking while pregnant is a really bad idea. What good would your butting in have done? Also, I don’t see the irony of her saying she didn’t want to do anything else that might harm the baby. Surely one potentially harmful thing is better than two. I’m not on board with the idea that smoking makes her such a fuckup as a mother that she shouldn’t even try to do anything else right. Also, Sattua, maybe you already know this - but unless you had flu-like symptoms at the time of the miscarriage, then the unpasteurised cheese almost definitely didn’t cause it. The cheese itself can’t cause miscarriage - the danger is that if the cheese is contaminated with bacteria, it can cause listeriosis (which has symptoms a bit like stomach flu), which can cause miscarriage. ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/7 "2014-06-26T14:52:51Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I’d have kept my yap shut, too. She knows the smoke isn’t good for the baby. Also, while I agree that smoking while pregnant is kind of a biggie, being pregnant does feel like a death from a thousand cuts, as far as stuff you’re “supposed” and “not supposed” to do. Pregnant women are paranoid and miserable enough without bossy strangers poking their noses in. > > Did I miscarry my fourth pregnancy because I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to eat unpasteurized cheese? Possibly. I really, really don’t need anyone to point it out to me, though. I doubt that was the cause,no more than an airplane ride was the reason I miscarried my first… I think that my child would not have lived to be born no matter what I did/did not do… The next 3 did very well. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/8 "2014-06-26T14:58:59Z")
> [@Lorene89095](#): > > The pregnant one was smoking…puffing right along while talking about not wearing the belt because of fears for her baby’s safety On the plus side, the low birth weight baby will be putting less strain on Mom’s back :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/9 "2014-06-26T15:03:00Z")
My Mom smoked like a chimney while pregnant with me. And look how awesome I am! So, I woulda slapped her on the back and congratulated her for her coming little bundle of awesome! ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/10 "2014-06-26T15:10:30Z")
> [@Lorene89095](#): > > While waiting for the bus at Wal~Mart I overheard 2 employees talking about wearing a back support belt while pregnant… The one said she was too far along to wear one. > The pregnant one was smoking…puffing right along while talking about not wearing the belt because of fears for her baby’s safety… I started to point out her folly,but decided that I would follow my credo…Do what you will,if it harms no others – but there is the poor passenger baby:dubious: > In your humble opion,what would you do?? Isn’t it more likely that the back support belt just doesn’t fit any more as opposed to it somehow being bad for the fetus? Not that talking about a safe pregnancy while smoking isn’t a bit :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-while-preggers/691691/11 "2014-06-26T15:11:06Z")
I think my mom smoked with all four of a. Drank, too, and drank coffee every day. It was the 50s, and none of that was considered harmful. So, no, I wouldn’t have said anything.