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Smoking and Pregnancy

It's too easy to believe from the media that pregnancy is fraught with risks and dangers, with new worries presented on a seemingly endless basis. While it's important to minimise risks, it's essential that you keep a balanced view.

SMOKING

The babies of smokers are likely to be lower birth weight, and more likely to suffer from asthma and chest infections - and are more likely to be victims of SIDs. Smoke poisons your baby with carbon monoxide, and reduces the oxygen that he or she receives through the placenta. Smoking in pregnancy may even reduce the likelihood of you becoming grandparents! A study carried out by the University of Denmark found that baby boys exposed to smoke in utero grow up to be men with a 25% below average sperm count.

Think about why you smoke - and it which situations you light up. Go to places where you can't smoke, such as the cinema, galleries and non - smoking cafes. Don't forget passive smoke is bad for you too. Your partner could quit too - your baby wants healthy, fragrant parents!

Keep your hands busy and you are less likely to indulge in the 'bored smoke'. Start a pregnancy journal of your feelings about the baby or buy a cot quilt kit, and sew your own heirloom -t prospective parents naturally become obsessed with the future, so create something for the generations to come!

To conquer the craving for the mouthfeel of a ciggie, munch on some popcorn, or make frozen juice sticks to slurp on.

ALCOHOL

Alcohol is bad for babies in utero. Whether we like it or not, pregnancy is a time to hit the Evian - but instead of bemoaning the fact, why not treat the next nine months as a super- spa detox?

It doesn't take a degree in midwifery to understand that binge drinking is bad for baby (and you!) - but how much alcohol is safe? There is no real safe level. When you drink alcohol, it enters the foetal bloodstream in the same concentration as it enters yours. It takes your baby twice as long to eliminate it from their system. Foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - where the babies of heavy drinkers are born with problems such as malformation of the head, limbs, heart and nervous system - has been called 'The hangover that lasts a lifetime.' It only takes five-six units of alcohol a day for FAS to develop. (Remember that a unit is a small glass of wine or half a pint of beer.)

More moderate drinkers increase the risk of foetal alcohol effect, where behavioural and developmental problems can occur. There is also an increased risk of miscarriage and low birth weight.

The effects of alcohol are depressing news for most of us, who at least enjoy a few glasses of Merlot to soothe away the cares of the day. So what can you do if you normally drink to relax? It's time to create new rituals!

Try the Bath Experience. Light the candles, start the soft music, bring on the scented bubble bath and warm (not hot) water - and enlist the help of your partner. Ask him to wash your back and soap your shoulders and neck - a soothing massage and a bonding experience that you can both enjoy and help to remind you why you started this whole baby adventure in the first place.

CATS

Much has been said about the risk of toxoplasmosis from cat poop - but before kitty gets burned at the stake like a witches' familiar, consider the facts. Toxoplasmosis is a serious infection that can cause miscarriage and abnormalities. It may be found in cat poop. So take sensible precautions. Pregnancy is not a good time to get a new cat (not least of all because you have enough on your mind without a small excited furball shredding your curtains and peeing on your cashmere). If you already have a cat, this gives you a great excuse to miss your turn with the litter tray! If no one succumbs to your emotional blackmail - 'It's to protect our baby, darling' - make sure you wear disposable gloves. It is fairly likely that you have been exposed to toxoplasmosis at some time and may already have immunity, but take no unnecessary risks. Does next door's tom use your garden as one big litter tray? Wear gloves when you garden. Make sure any home-grown fruit and veggies are well washed for the same reason.


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