Healthier pregnancy
Protecting your baby from smoke is one of the best things you can do to give your child a healthy start in life. The sooner you stop smoking, the better chances you’ll have of a healthier, happier pregnancy and birth.
Smoking harms your baby
Every cigarette you smoke contains over 5,000 toxic chemicals. Smoking when pregnant restricts oxygen to your baby, making their heart beat faster and significantly increasing the risk of complications.
Breathing in second-hand smoke from others (known as passive smoking) when pregnant can also harm your baby, so it’s important your partner and family don’t smoke near you.
Have a safer pregnancy
Quitting smoking as early as possible will reduce the risk of:
- your baby being born too early, leading to breathing problems
- low birth weight, meaning your baby may struggle to stay warm
- miscarriage
- stillbirth
- sudden infant death syndrome (‘SIDS’)
- your baby developing asthma and other serious illnesses that may need hospital treatment
Remember you're not on your own
More women quit smoking when they are pregnant than at any other time during their lives. One study found that pregnant smokers were twice as likely to attempt to quit smoking as non-pregnant women.
But quitting smoking while pregnant may not be easy, and you don’t have to do it on your own. Specialist stop smoking support is available across Greater Manchester.
Just ask your midwife for help to stop smoking and they will give you all the support you need to quit smoking and have a healthier, happier pregnancy.
More money for the things that matter
The average smoker spends around £170 a month on tobacco. Think of all the things you could buy for your new baby with that money instead!
Quitting will free up money for the things you really need, like a new pram, cot and clothes for your little one.
Using stop smoking aids during pregnancy
Most nicotine replacement is safe to use during pregnancy. It is recommended to use nicotine replacement if it will help you stop smoking as they don’t contain any of the damaging chemicals found in cigarettes.
Before using nicotine replacement or e-cigarettes, speak to your midwife, GP, pharmacist or a stop smoking advisor to make sure they’re right for you.
Reasons to quit
Why Quit
Quit Support
