My family are so proud of me for finally quitting, they didn’t think I could do it, you Terry helped prove them wrong and I am so gratefull, you’ve turned my life around

Pregnancy is one of the most wonderful times in a woman’s life. Her body changes and the expectation of giving birth to another life form is miraculous in itself. The joy of mother hood is often tinted with the apprehensions that thing should work out fine.

God is usually kind but often man is not so kind. Having invented cigarettes, men passed on the habit to women and now the situation is that the number of women who smoke are equivalent to the number of men.

Out of the total population of Britain’s 15 year olds, about one fifth are smokers and amongst the girls outnumber the boys.

Smoking is harmful to all but especially to women. Women who smoke especially just before or during their pregnancies are putting themselves at great risk.

As the baby get’s bigger the amount of pressure on a mother’s lungs goes on increasing because of the space that the baby occupies. If an expectant mother continues to smoke at this time then she is going to harm herself as well her baby by coughing all the time.

Also the reduced oxygen supply can severely retard a fetus’s development and the baby could be born deformed and misshapen.

 Expecting mothers should give up smoking as soon as they know that they are pregnant. In fact if a woman wants to ensure that she should have a normal pregnancy then she should seriously consider giving up smoking before she gets pregnant rather than after.

A cigarette is a storehouse of harmful chemicals and the sheer amount that a person pours into their blood stream on daily basis is enough to kill anyone so a little baby is not exactly the strongest individual.

Giving up smoking gives your body the much needed respite that it craves to gather its resources to cope with the demands that a baby is going to make on it. The increased oxygen supply, the stamina increase and of course the nourishment that would be required to nurture the baby would be more easily available if mother is a non smoker.

Kicking the habit would also ensure that once your baby is born he or she would not fall into the trap of being a sickly and weak individual and would also ensure that your baby does not die of SIDS.

As a mother, a woman’s role is to nurture and protect. Nurturing begins even before the baby is born. The woman needs to understand that her baby is affected by every thing that she eats, does or speaks. Every little action would leave an indelible mark on the child. By giving up smoking not only are you healing yourself physically but you are also accepting that as an individual you are responsible for your baby.

Give your baby the best gift that you can bestow upon him or her. Give them the gift of life. Give them the good health that they will need to carry on in life. Stop smoking.