Pregnancy can feel a lot to deal with. So much is changing, and everyone has an opinion. Your friends and family continue to smoke, and maybe your baby’s dad does too.
You want to stop, and you can – but you may need some help, it’s not easy. We hear from two young mums-to-be who were supported by their maternity health adviser to quit smoking. We have used different names to protect the women’s identity.
Emily’s story
“At the start of my pregnancy, I was smoking three to five cigarettes a day as I was finding it difficult to stop smoking. As my pregnancy went along and Naomi (Maternity Health Adviser) got in contact with me with support to help me stop smoking, I started to make moves myself after being told the risk factors it has on my baby. I chose to have tea or coffee instead of a cigarette. It was around week 31/32 when Naomi got in contact, and I lost hope and thought it was too late to be able to stop.
“Naomi then offered me a nicotine inhalator and patches which I used when I felt like a cigarette. By week 36/37 I was having one cigarette a day, not because I felt like it but because it was more of a habit of having something in my mouth and smoking. I feel like the inhalator helped me more than the patches.
“I fully stopped smoking around five weeks before I had my baby, my baby is now 6 weeks old. I never thought I was going to do it as my husband also smokes and I found it really hard when he was smoking around me, but with the support from Naomi and telling myself I can do it, not for me, but for my baby. I did it.
Joanna’s story
23 year old Joanna is expecting her first baby and lives at home with dad, who is also a smoker. Before getting ready to go to work, Joanna would make a brew and roll up a cigarette at the start of the day. The number of roll ups she smoked during the day would vary although usually not more than 10.
When Joanna found out she was pregnant, she initially declined any support to quit. However, at 16 weeks and following a conversation with Maternity Health Adviser, Naomi, about lifestyle, smoking habits, healthy eating during pregnancy and vitamins, together they agreed a care plan. That care plan included weekly support on the phone and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) patches through the post. Joanna would put a patch on in the morning and keep it on for the recommended 16 hours and used a vape when she needed to.
Although Joanna struggled to give up at first, thanks to the patches, she cut down on her tobacco use and agreed 14 March 2023 would be the day to quit altogether. When 14 March arrived, Joanna removed all temptation from view and applied a patch as soon as she got up. Naomi was delighted to get a text from Joanna saying that she’d gone all day without smoking.
After five weeks of using the patches Joanna felt she no longer needed them.
“Naomi has been so supportive throughout my journey to stopping smoking, checking in regularly and offering me great advice and reassurance every time we spoke,” says Joanna. I’m not sure I’d have managed to get to this stage without her support! She’s a credit to the NHS!”
Joanna is delighted to be a non-smoker and knows that she can contact Naomi if she needs any more support.
For resources and support to stop smoking see our mums can quit smoking page.