Post by burke211 on Jun 30, 2010 11:17:37 GMT -5
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/2010/06/29/i-m-pregnant-at-age-40-but-can-t-give-up-cigarettes-86908-22368808/
Pregnant and can't give up smoking.. despite son's pleas and risks to unborn baby
Jun 29 2010 By Samantha Booth
PREGNANT Sharon McMillan refuses to stop smoking - despite the risks to her unborn baby and the pleas of her young son.
The 40-year-old mum-of-four has smoked 20 cigarettes a day since she was 17, including through all her pregnancies.
Five-year-old son Calvin constantly begs his mum to give up.
But Sharon, who is due to give birth in August, cares so little about the dangers to her children's health, she doesn't even go outside her home in Craigend, Glasgow, for her nicotine fix. She even lets 15-year-old daughter Sammy-Jo smoke in the house.
Speaking to Closer magazine, the unrepentant mum said: "I know passive smoking is dangerous but it never harmed my eldest two children.
"If Calvin doesn't like it, he leaves the room while I smoke - and Sammy-Jo only has a few a day.
"Obviously I should give up because I am pregnant, but I don't have the willpower. Smoking keeps me relaxed."
Calvin started nagging his mum to quit last year.
He even breaks cigarettes he finds lying around the house in the hope of making his mum and sister see sense.
Sharon said: "He learned about it at school and told me and Sammy-Jo smoking was bad for us.
"He asks us to stop but he is too young to understand why it isn't that easy."
Last week, the NHS announced that midwives will be encouraged to give mums-to-be breath tests to discover the truth about just how much they are smoking.
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence have recommended all pregnant women have their breath measured for carbon monoxide levels when they book in with a midwife.
Smoking during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and under-developed babies, while also increasing the risk of cot death.
Daily Record GP Craig Lennox added: "Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are also far more likely to be ill more often and are twice as likely to end up in hospital during the first eight months of life.
"Their health is simply much poorer and there are some studies which also link smoking during pregnancy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioural problems.
"It certainly has some impact on brain development, although quantifying that is difficult.
"Those born to mums who smoked during pregnancy are also three times more likely to become smokers themselves."
Smoking when pregnant can also trigger asthma and other chest conditions later in the child's life, as last week's shocking story about 52-year-old non-smoker Lynda Mitchell proved.
She made the headlines when she revealed she was dying of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as smoker's lung, because her parents puffed as many as 60 cigarettes a day in her presence when she was a child.
Dr Lennox said: "Children who suffer from passive smoking are more likely to develop a range of conditions, including asthma, glue ear and meningococcal meningitis.
"Interestingly, children who passive smoke are also less likely to do well in tests, especially in reading tests."
Sharon was brought up by her grandmother, who herself had a 40-a-day habit, and started smoking when she was just 15. By the time she was 17, she had a 20-a-day habit.
She said: "It was just something all the kids did and it wasn't a big deal.
"Initially, I smoked five a day and bought them with my dinner money.
"My gran told me it was bad for me. I didn't care."
Sharon was 17 when she fell pregnant with her eldest daughter, Cheryl, now 22, but didn't stop smoking. She said: "Doctors told me it could harm the baby but when I tried to quit it never worked.
"So, instead I cut down to about 15 a day. When Cheryl was born, I tried not to smoke near her until she was a few months old because I understood it was dangerous."
The mum has since continued to smoke when she was pregnant with Brian, now 18, Sammy-Jo, Calvin and the baby she is expecting in August.
She said: "Looking back, I know I was stupid. I worried my babies could be harmed but they were all born healthy.
"I should've tried harder to quit but, now I'm so hooked, I doubt I'll ever be able to.
"At the moment I just try not to think about the risks to my unborn baby or I feel guilty."
Sharon stays in a three-bedroom house with her non-smoking partner Andrew Morten, a forklift driver.
He is the dad of Sammy-Jo, Calvin and the unborn baby.
She said: "He says he'd like me to quit, because he worries about me and the children, but he understands I can't survive without cigarettes, so he doesn't hassle me."
Sharon discovered that Sammy-Jo had started smoking last year.
She said: "Cheryl and Brian never smoked and I couldn't understand why Sammy-Jo started because she's a sensible girl.
"I guessed she was just doing it because her friends did."
And she added: "I knew I couldn't tell her off because that would be hypocritical.
"So I just told her I was disappointed and asked her to stop. She promised she would and I believed her."
Just a few weeks after their heartto-heart, Sharon caught Sammy-Jo smoking.
Realising her daughter wasn't going to quit after all, she agreed to let her smoke in the house.
The mum gives her daughter £10 a week pocket money, most of which goes on fags.
Sharon said: "She does ask me to give her cigarettes and I give in to her a couple of times a week.
"I try not to think about the damage to her health. It frightens me."
Sharon did try to give up smoking again in January, when she discovered she was pregnant with her fifth child.
But even with the help of nicotine patches, she simply couldn't do it.
She said: "I tried to give up just to encourage Sammy-Jo, but we were hopeless.
"After two days we pulled off the patches and had a cigarette together."
The full feature appears in this week's Closer magazine, on sale now
BIG RISK TO BABIES
Women who smoke while pregnant run a 27 per cent higher risk of miscarriage.
They are more likely to develop complications in pregnancy and labour, including premature detachment of the placenta and rupture of the membranes.
Smoking deprives unborn babies of oxygen.
They are three times as likely to be stillborn or die within the first week.
And the risk of cot death doubles.
Passive smoking can be just as harmful to babies and children. It can trigger asthma attacks and cause middle-ear infections and other respiratory conditions.
In Scotland, more than 20,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections, 120,000 cases of middle-ear disease, 22,000 new cases of asthma, 200 cases of bacterial meningitis and 40 sudden infant deaths are attributed to passive smoking each year.
In the UK, 17,000 under-fives are admitted to hospital every year because of passive smoking.
Jun 29 2010 By Samantha Booth
PREGNANT Sharon McMillan refuses to stop smoking - despite the risks to her unborn baby and the pleas of her young son.
The 40-year-old mum-of-four has smoked 20 cigarettes a day since she was 17, including through all her pregnancies.
Five-year-old son Calvin constantly begs his mum to give up.
But Sharon, who is due to give birth in August, cares so little about the dangers to her children's health, she doesn't even go outside her home in Craigend, Glasgow, for her nicotine fix. She even lets 15-year-old daughter Sammy-Jo smoke in the house.
Speaking to Closer magazine, the unrepentant mum said: "I know passive smoking is dangerous but it never harmed my eldest two children.
"If Calvin doesn't like it, he leaves the room while I smoke - and Sammy-Jo only has a few a day.
"Obviously I should give up because I am pregnant, but I don't have the willpower. Smoking keeps me relaxed."
Calvin started nagging his mum to quit last year.
He even breaks cigarettes he finds lying around the house in the hope of making his mum and sister see sense.
Sharon said: "He learned about it at school and told me and Sammy-Jo smoking was bad for us.
"He asks us to stop but he is too young to understand why it isn't that easy."
Last week, the NHS announced that midwives will be encouraged to give mums-to-be breath tests to discover the truth about just how much they are smoking.
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence have recommended all pregnant women have their breath measured for carbon monoxide levels when they book in with a midwife.
Smoking during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and under-developed babies, while also increasing the risk of cot death.
Daily Record GP Craig Lennox added: "Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are also far more likely to be ill more often and are twice as likely to end up in hospital during the first eight months of life.
"Their health is simply much poorer and there are some studies which also link smoking during pregnancy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioural problems.
"It certainly has some impact on brain development, although quantifying that is difficult.
"Those born to mums who smoked during pregnancy are also three times more likely to become smokers themselves."
Smoking when pregnant can also trigger asthma and other chest conditions later in the child's life, as last week's shocking story about 52-year-old non-smoker Lynda Mitchell proved.
She made the headlines when she revealed she was dying of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as smoker's lung, because her parents puffed as many as 60 cigarettes a day in her presence when she was a child.
Dr Lennox said: "Children who suffer from passive smoking are more likely to develop a range of conditions, including asthma, glue ear and meningococcal meningitis.
"Interestingly, children who passive smoke are also less likely to do well in tests, especially in reading tests."
Sharon was brought up by her grandmother, who herself had a 40-a-day habit, and started smoking when she was just 15. By the time she was 17, she had a 20-a-day habit.
She said: "It was just something all the kids did and it wasn't a big deal.
"Initially, I smoked five a day and bought them with my dinner money.
"My gran told me it was bad for me. I didn't care."
Sharon was 17 when she fell pregnant with her eldest daughter, Cheryl, now 22, but didn't stop smoking. She said: "Doctors told me it could harm the baby but when I tried to quit it never worked.
"So, instead I cut down to about 15 a day. When Cheryl was born, I tried not to smoke near her until she was a few months old because I understood it was dangerous."
The mum has since continued to smoke when she was pregnant with Brian, now 18, Sammy-Jo, Calvin and the baby she is expecting in August.
She said: "Looking back, I know I was stupid. I worried my babies could be harmed but they were all born healthy.
"I should've tried harder to quit but, now I'm so hooked, I doubt I'll ever be able to.
"At the moment I just try not to think about the risks to my unborn baby or I feel guilty."
Sharon stays in a three-bedroom house with her non-smoking partner Andrew Morten, a forklift driver.
He is the dad of Sammy-Jo, Calvin and the unborn baby.
She said: "He says he'd like me to quit, because he worries about me and the children, but he understands I can't survive without cigarettes, so he doesn't hassle me."
Sharon discovered that Sammy-Jo had started smoking last year.
She said: "Cheryl and Brian never smoked and I couldn't understand why Sammy-Jo started because she's a sensible girl.
"I guessed she was just doing it because her friends did."
And she added: "I knew I couldn't tell her off because that would be hypocritical.
"So I just told her I was disappointed and asked her to stop. She promised she would and I believed her."
Just a few weeks after their heartto-heart, Sharon caught Sammy-Jo smoking.
Realising her daughter wasn't going to quit after all, she agreed to let her smoke in the house.
The mum gives her daughter £10 a week pocket money, most of which goes on fags.
Sharon said: "She does ask me to give her cigarettes and I give in to her a couple of times a week.
"I try not to think about the damage to her health. It frightens me."
Sharon did try to give up smoking again in January, when she discovered she was pregnant with her fifth child.
But even with the help of nicotine patches, she simply couldn't do it.
She said: "I tried to give up just to encourage Sammy-Jo, but we were hopeless.
"After two days we pulled off the patches and had a cigarette together."
The full feature appears in this week's Closer magazine, on sale now
BIG RISK TO BABIES
Women who smoke while pregnant run a 27 per cent higher risk of miscarriage.
They are more likely to develop complications in pregnancy and labour, including premature detachment of the placenta and rupture of the membranes.
Smoking deprives unborn babies of oxygen.
They are three times as likely to be stillborn or die within the first week.
And the risk of cot death doubles.
Passive smoking can be just as harmful to babies and children. It can trigger asthma attacks and cause middle-ear infections and other respiratory conditions.
In Scotland, more than 20,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections, 120,000 cases of middle-ear disease, 22,000 new cases of asthma, 200 cases of bacterial meningitis and 40 sudden infant deaths are attributed to passive smoking each year.
In the UK, 17,000 under-fives are admitted to hospital every year because of passive smoking.
