Smoke and vape, including yours
Your cigarette on the back step is not a private hobby once she is pregnant. Raising Children talks to the partner, not only to the woman. Second-hand smoke or vapour is what you breathe out, and what drifts off the burning end.
It carries toxic chemicals, nicotine among them. She breathes that in. It can move through her blood to the baby.
Third-hand is the part men like to argue with. It is what is left after you have finished. It hangs around for hours on hair, clothes and skin, and in cars, furniture and carpet.
She and the baby meet it when the cigarette is already out. A jacket on the couch is not nothing.
Vapes are not a clever substitute on this page. The liquid has nicotine, flavour chemicals, and chemicals you would recognise from cleaning products, paint, nail polish remover, weed killer, bug spray and fuel. A lot of them are not on the pack.
What that exposure makes more likely, before and after birth, is ugly and specific. Premature birth. Low birth weight.
Death in pregnancy or at birth. Sudden unexpected death in infancy. In childhood, more middle ear infections or lasting hearing problems, asthma and pneumonia, birth defects, and trouble settling and feeding.
You do not need a percentage to take the list seriously. The direction is enough.
So quit. Quitline is 137 848. A GP or a counsellor can put you on a program.
If she smokes too, you stopping makes her stop more possible. You continuing makes her quit harder, and makes a return after the birth more likely. Ask what help she wants.
Do not announce her habit to the family as your project.
If you have not stopped yet, the page still gives damage control, and it is strict. Outside, away from everyone. Not in the car.
Cover hair and clothes with something she will not touch. Wash hands. Brush teeth.
If someone else in the house smokes or vapes, you are allowed to tell them to keep it out of the home, the car, and any spot close enough to matter. You can say why. The baby's lungs are a good why.
This does not end at the birth. The same page wants the environment clear for the rest of childhood. A new baby in a smoky lounge is the same problem with a smaller chest.
You can be ashamed and still call Quitline today. Shame is not a plan. The number is.
Source: Raising Children Network