Have We Come a Long Way Baby?

It’s World No Tobacco Day today. I was going to write a unique post about how smoking is bad for babies and moms but how if you are a smoker who can’t or won’t quit then it is better to breastfeed and smoke then formula feed and smoke because the breastfeeding will help protect your baby from some of the harmful effects of the chemicals and nicotine in the cigarettes. But it is late in the day so I am being a lazy blogger and copying and pasting some information and guidelines about smoking and breastfeeding from Kellymom instead. To read this information in its entirety, go here.

Oh right, and when I was at a garage sale yesterday a woman was giving away a bunch of Family Circle magazines from the 1970′s. I had a lot of fun reading some of the articles which I might share another time, but what really got me were the ads. Here is one of my favorites from the April 24th, 1978 edition. I couldn’t get over how blatently okay the tobacco company was marketing smoking to active women – even providing an order form so the reader could buy her own smashing athletic gear! Oh yes! I want to look like her! Tennis with a smoke hanging out of your mouth anyone?

Anyway, here’s the important stuff from Kellymom:

• Babies and children who are exposed to cigarette smoke have a much higher incidence of pneumonia, asthma, ear infections, bronchitis, sinus infections, eye irritation, and croup.
• Colic occurs more often in babies whose mothers or fathers smoke or if a breastfeeding mother smokes. Researchers believe that not only does the nicotine transferred into mother’s milk upset baby but the passive smoke in the home acts as an irritant. Babies of smoking parents fuss more, and mothers who smoke may be less able to cope with a colicky baby (due to lower levels of prolactin).
• Heavy smoking by breastfeeding moms occasionally causes symptoms in the breastfeeding baby such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.
• Babies of smoking mothers and fathers have a seven times greater chance of dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• Children of smoking parents have two to three times more visits to the doctor, usually from respiratory infections or allergy-related illnesses.
• Children who are exposed to passive smoke in the home have lower blood levels of HDL, the good cholesterol that helps protect against coronary artery disease.
• Children of smoking parents are more likely to become smokers themselves.
• A recent study found that growing up in a home in which two parents smoked could double the child’s risk of lung cancer later in life.

Smoking has been linked to:

• Earlier weaning. One study showed that the heaviest smokers tend to wean the earliest.
• Lower milk production
• Interference with milk let-down
• Lower levels of prolactin. The hormone prolactin must be present for milk synthesis to occur.
• One study (Laurberg 2004) indicated that smoking mothers who live in areas of mild to moderate iodine deficiency have less iodine in their breastmilk (needed for baby’s thyroid function) compared to nonsmoking mothers. The study authors suggested that breastfeeding mothers who smoke consider taking an iodine supplement.

Although smoking has been linked to milk production and let-down problems, this may be related to poor lactation management rather than physiological causes. Dr. Lisa Amir, in a review published in 2001, concluded that “Although there is consistent evidence that women who smoke breastfeed their infants for a shorter duration than non-smokers, the evidence for a physiological mechanism is not strong.”

• The ideal: Stop smoking altogether.
• Cut down. The less you smoke, the smaller the chance that difficulties will arise. The risks increase if you smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day.
• Don’t smoke immediately before or during breastfeeding. It will inhibit let-down and is dangerous to your baby.
• Smoke immediately after breastfeeding to cut down on the amount of nicotine in your milk during nursing. Wait as long as possible between smoking and nursing. It takes 95 minutes for half of the nicotine to be eliminated from your body.
• Avoid smoking in the same room with your baby. Even better, smoke outside, away from your baby and other children. Don’t allow anyone else to smoke near your baby.

Have we really come a long way when it comes to smoking and advertising? What about smoking mothers? What do you think? Let me know by leaving a comment. Subscribing to my site via RSS or email would make my day too!

Related posts:

1. Long Term Breastfeeding Moms: Are We Damaging Our Kids?
2. Poll: How Long Did You Breastfeed? (Covering Up Vs. Not Covering Up)
3. Missing: Long Lost Love
4. Update: My Long Lost Love

Tags: Kellymom, smoking