Should it be illegal to smoke while pregnant?

MagicSean

Smoking while pregnant is endangering the welfare of the child. I can't see hoe anyone can really deny that.

Difficulty enforcing a law is no reason not to pass it. The HSE investigate much more vague complaints all the time.

Nothingbetter2d

it would be impossible to police it. take women that are only 0 - 12 weeks pregnant.... how would you be able to tell if they was pregnant or just pudgy without making them pee on a stick

even if they were just pudgy you would end up offending innocent women that just have a few extra pounds in the tummy area.

silliest idea ive heard yet.

Teyla Emmagan

I don't really have a problem with pregant women having the odd cigarette, if they really need to. But those women you see sucking down fags standing outside the Rotunda with their bellies poking out from their dressing gowns frighten the life out of me. They've clearly been on 20 a day all the way through their pregnancy, which is really shocking.

I used to work with a girl who told me that all the young ones she met in the waiting room when she went in for her pre natal scans were all smoking to keep the baby weight down - you know, won't ruin the figure as much, won't stretch you too much on the way out.

One of my neighbours also smoked her way through her 5 pregnancies and her children are fine. Bar the fact they are all squinty eyed little ferrets.

I do think the risks of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome are a lot worse though. And the effects are way more serious than those caused by smoking:

"Alcohol crosses the placental barrier and can stunt fetal growth or weight, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structures, which can result in psychological or behavioral problems, and cause other physical damage. The main effect of FAS is permanent central nervous system damage, especially to the brain. Developing brain cells and structures can be malformed or have development interrupted by prenatal alcohol exposure; this can create an array of primary cognitive and functional disabilities (including poor memory, attention deficits, impulsive behavior, and poor cause-effect reasoning) as well as secondary disabilities (for example, predispositions to mental health problems and drug addiction). Alcohol exposure presents a risk of fetal brain damage at any point during a pregnancy, since brain development is ongoing throughout pregnancy."

And there is a theoretical risk from even very small amounts of alcohol. Ban drinking, that's what I say. Because there is no coming back if you have been unlucky enough to be born with that condition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_syndrome

MagicSean

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

it would be impossible to police it. take women that are only 0 - 12 weeks pregnant.... how would you be able to tell if they was pregnant or just pudgy without making them pee on a stick

even if they were just pudgy you would end up offending innocent women that just have a few extra pounds in the tummy area.

silliest idea ive heard yet.

You're assuming that police will be roving around looking for fat women smoking. That's not how any child abuse investigation works. Often it is medical professionals and family that report abuse and it is investigated.

Cianos

While I'm not taking sides on whether it should be made illegal, it would be a somewhat self policing law. Currently an onlooker can just tut, show disapproval and maybe voice concern. Being able to say "that's illegal "carries much more weight.

There's also the association of something being written in law implies that there is good reason for it being law and is no longer up for argument. It also polarises the argument and would be a big swaying factor for those who lie somewhere in the middle.

Misticles

Might be more manageable to ban smoking at maternity hospitals... Sickens me seeing people outside baring their bump with the cigarette in hand!

If they are selfish before the baby is born then god help the baby when it is born.