Quitting smoking while pregnant is hard, but it’s a good choice for both you and your baby. The sooner you can quit, the better. You may want to try taking a few weeks off from smoking while you’re pregnant so that your body has time to heal from the damage it’s already suffered—and then try quitting again after you give birth.
Avoid triggers
When it comes to quitting smoking during pregnancy, your willpower is going to be tested by a lot of things. To make it easier for you, try avoiding the triggers that are most likely to cause you to smoke. Does smoking help you relax? If so, then avoid situations where you might feel stressed out and need to relieve stress. Do people around you smoke? If so, try finding new friends who don’t smoke or taking a break from them until after your baby is born. Are there times when smoking makes it easier for you to drink alcohol? If so, consider avoiding alcohol altogether during this time in order not only keep yourself healthy but also keep safe around others who may be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (which could include nicotine).
Drink more water
There are several benefits to drinking more water. First and foremost, it can help you fight cravings. The Mayo Clinic says that body aches and dry mouth are common side effects of nicotine withdrawal, which is why many people start craving food or other substances during this time. Drinking water can help alleviate these symptoms and keep them at bay as your body adjusts to life without cigarettes.
Second, staying hydrated helps your body get rid of toxins—and there’s no denying that smoking puts your system through the wringer! Water is an excellent way for your body to flush out harmful chemicals like tar and carbon monoxide from its cells.
Lastly, remember that adding an extra glass or bottle might not seem like much in terms of effort (or calories), but over time these little changes add up: One study found that just two cups a day—that’s about half a liter—of plain old H2O could burn off an extra 150 calories per week!
Ask for help
- Ask for help. Smoking cessation programs offered by Quit Right Waltham Forest is perfect to get you started on your journey to a smoke-free life. Our treatment programmes also help make it easier to quit.
- A counsellor, friend or family member could also offer moral support throughout this journey—and it’s important to have someone on board who has been there before! This person could even be the one who helps you get started with quitting smoking; they know what it took them personally to succeed, so they may have some tips that work with their experience when trying to quit smoking themselves such as using nicotine gum rather than patches etcetera, which might make quitting easier since they understand what works best personally rather than relying solely on advice given by others without personal experience using those methods themselves.”
Think about how you want your baby to grow up
If you’re pregnant and want to stop smoking, the first step is to think about how you want your baby to grow up. Do you want them to be healthy and happy? Of course, but that’s not enough. Do you want them to see that quitting smoking is hard work? Absolutely!
Morning sickness and exhaustion are just two of the symptoms of pregnancy that might make it difficult for some women to quit smoking altogether. However, once your baby arrives, there will be plenty of other reasons for keeping off cigarettes—like breastfeeding or even just bonding with their new little one. No matter what stage of pregnancy or life as a motherhood-to-be, though—whether yours or someone else’s—it’s important for everyone involved (including yourself) that each woman who gets pregnant considers her choices carefully before deciding whether or not she wants (or needs) help kicking nicotine entirely during this period:
Think about how hard it will be to quit after your baby arrives
One of the most important things to remember when you are trying to quit smoking while pregnant is that your first few weeks after giving birth will be stressful. You will be tired, and the last thing you want to do is deal with a newborn while also trying to quit smoking. If you start smoking again after giving birth, it will be much harder than if you had quit before your baby arrived.
The new mother tends not only to feel irritable but also extremely nervous and depressed as well as anxious about caring for her infant properly, especially if this is her first child and she has no family around who can help her out or advise on how best to cope with parenthood’s many challenges.
Write down your reasons for quitting, and then read them every day.
- Make a list of all the reasons that you want to quit smoking.
- Write down your reasons for quitting on paper, or in a notebook, or on a computer.
- Read your reasons every day to remind yourself why you want to quit smoking.
- Write down your reasons in a way that makes you feel good and proud of yourself!
Write down the benefits of quitting and the costs of smoking, and be honest with yourself about both
- Writing down the benefits of quitting and the costs of smoking can help you make a more informed decision about whether or not you should quit.
- For example, you might write “Quitting smoking will improve my health and prevent lung cancer.” Then, write down the cost, such as “Smoking costs £30 per week,” or whatever it is in your case.
- Also be honest with yourself: You may think that it’s going to be very difficult to quit smoking during pregnancy, but if you do decide to do so then at least acknowledge that it will probably be hard for a while before becoming easier.
Admit that quitting smoking is going to be hard
- Quitting smoking is going to be hard. It takes time to get used to not smoking, and it takes even longer for your body and mind to adjust.
- You might miss cigarettes during this period—that’s totally normal! When you’re craving a cigarette, try eating a piece of fresh fruit or chewing on some gum instead.
- If you’re having trouble quitting cold turkey, consider nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). NRT products include patches with different strengths of nicotine as well as gums that contain low levels of the addictive drug—all designed so that they help alleviate cravings while still allowing users enough time off from cigarettes in order to adjust.
Enlist support from family members, friends and co-workers
- Be honest with yourself about how difficult it is to quit.
- Find support from family members, friends and co-workers who haven’t smoked since high school.
- Get rid of your cigarettes if you can, or at least hide them, so they’re not as visible.
Quitting smoking while pregnant can be difficult, but it’s worth it for both you and your growing baby
Quitting smoking while pregnant can be difficult, but it’s worth it for both you and your growing baby. Smoking during pregnancy poses many dangers to both mother and child. It increases the risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, stillbirth, preterm labor and other complications like placental abruption (where the placenta separates from the uterus too early).
Quit smoking for yourself and your baby. You’re not just protecting yourself; you’re also protecting your unborn child from nicotine exposure which can lead to ADHD-like symptoms in children later in life.
Quitting smoking while pregnant can be difficult, but it’s worth it for both you and your growing baby. It’s important to remember that quitting smoking is a process and not an event. You may need to try different methods that work best for you over time before finding the right way to quit. It may take some time, but keep working at it!