Smoking during pregnancy

[st4304]

OB Nurses:

Is there any condition during pregnancy in which a physician would recommend a woman not stop smoking? Pre-eclampsia? Epilepsy?

Can any of you provide a link to a study or literature that shows quitting smoking cold turkey is harmful to a fetus or mother?

Thanks!

Sherri

[Dolce, RN]

My friend's sister told me that her doctor told her that it was better for her to keep smoking because her baby was going to be really big. I think remarks like this are often just the patient "hearing what they want to hear." I can easily imagine her doctor telling her that smoking was a risk factor for low birth weight, but that her baby appeared to be good sized on the ultrasound. I can not imagine even the quackiest doctor in the world actually encouraging her to smoke.

I think you are so right. I imagine that most patients are just hearing what they want to hear. Have you ever heard a patient tell you, "My nurse told me blah, blah, blah" only to realize that it was me that told them that? And usually, by the time it gets repeated back it is a total mess and completely inaccurate. Patients listen to what we have to say through their own filter. Often they screen out the stuff they don't agree with and latch onto the things they do.