This has always been something that's irritated me, I doubt that many people enjoy the stale stench of days-old cigarette smoke in peoples houses or on their clothes - the worst irritation for me would be when buying something off ebay that promised to be from a "Smoke Free Home" which arrived stinking to high heaven before I'd even opened the parcel! - but during pregnancy, my irritation grew.
It is truly astounding how many selfish smokers there are out there - the number of people who think nothing of exhaling their fumes all over a pregnant woman.
Two incidents come to mind when thinking of my encounters with selfish smokers while pregnant -
One was when I was sitting outside the maternity wing of the hospital, waiting for my other half to bring the car around to pick me up, I was sitting on the only bench allocated - when two men came up beside me, sat down and started smoking.
My bump was pretty damn big by this time - there was no mistaking that I was pregnant - nor that they were sitting outside a maternity wing. But did they care?! No. Did they think maybe it would be more respectful and considerate for them to stand up and smoke a few feet away? No.
Instead I - the 34 week pregnant woman - had to walk a few feet away and wait standing up for my partner, so that these "gentlemen" had a nice comfy seat while they indulged their habit.
Another incident was when I was leaving the midwife clinic one day - again, I was around 37 weeks along - heavily pregnant. As I was walking out, the smell of putrid cigarette smoke hit me and I struggled to try to hold my breath as I walked past a woman walking ahead of me puffing away - I was thinking about how selfish she was to not even have waited until she got off the midwifes premises before she started smoking, for the sake of the pregnant women there...but I passed her and looked at her - I realize that she too had a huge bump. And there she was - about 38 weeks pregnant, standing outside her MIDWIFES OFFICE, smoking - with no shame.
Now I know that smokers will always argue and say that its an addiction, they physically CAN'T give up - even for 9 months while pregnant! They've tried, etc.Or they'll give the usual excuses ... "My mother smoked while she was having me and it didn't do me any harm"...."I smoked while I was having my first, no point in stopping for this one...."....etc etc etc.
In my personal opinion, no matter what the excuse - I think its vile to smoke while pregnant, and I think its REALLY disrespectful to smoke around pregnant people and children.
I was lucky enough to be raised by parents who don't smoke (My mother never has, my father did when he was younger but he gave up when I was very very young and has never looked back since) - but of course not all children do. Some parents try very hard to do the best they can and not smoke around their children, not smoke in the car, etc - but as all of the anti-smoking campaign ads show - even with the best intentions it is very very difficult to ensure that your child doesn't breathe in the fumes.
So of course the best option is to stop.
For your childrens sake and for your own.
And I do realize that there are some smokers out there who are NOT selfish and would never dream of smoking around children or pregnant people - I appreciate the efforts of these people, unfortunately there is always someone to ruin it for everybody though!
I realize that stopping a habit like smoking isn't easy - but with things like electronic cigarettes around now, it could be that much easier.
My partner was a smoker when I met him - one day while we were on a weekend away in London he was asked to try an e-cigarette by a stallholder, he was apprehensive and skeptical - but he ended up being very impressed!!
He ordered a set when we got home, and he has never looked back since.
He went from smoking 25 cigarettes a day, to now being completely unable to stomach the smell of cigarettes - all in the space of about a month!
If you would like to stop smoking, it really could be worth giving e-cigarettes a try - Jon recently trialled SKYCIGs and was very impressed.He enjoyed the flavours - he was sent 5 flavours to try (classic tobacco, cherry cinnamon, menthol, tobacco gold and crown tobacco)- his favorite flavor was the cherry cinnamon as he said it genuinely tasted like cherry and it was really refreshing.
He was also a fan of the charger which was designed to look like a cigarette packet - lightweight and sleek.
SKYCIG e-cigarettes costs up to 75 per cent less than traditional cigarettes, leaving you with more money to enjoy the finer things in life!
If you are thinking of stopping smoking and would like to give SKYCIG a try, go to www.skycig.co.ukWhat are your thoughts on smokers? Have you ever had any run-ins with selfish smokers? Are you a smoker yourself?
Have you checked out my Super Sparkler Advertiser this month?Louise's blog is a fab read all about beauty, shopping and mummyhood with regular product reviews and weekly features such as Shopping My Stash and What The Postman Brought....
To see YOUR BLOG OR SMALL BUSINESS ADVERTISED HERE just click here for details!
