How does smoking affect breastfeeding: the opinion of doctors and feedback from women

Is it possible to combine smoking with breastfeeding? It is necessary to understand in detail how nicotine affects the health of the mother and child and how to reduce the negative impact on their organisms.

Is maternity and smoking compatible?

There are two types of smoking: active, when a person smokes a cigarette directly and passive, when a person inhales smoke from someone's cigarette. In the case of mother smoking, she is an active smoker, and her baby is passive, because, in addition to smoke, harmful substances get into his body along with mother’s milk. In fact, the baby drinks already poisoned milk.

Scientific studies show that breast milk is produced in smaller quantities in women who smoke.

This is due to the fact that nicotine has a certain ability to suppress the production of prolactin, a hormone that causes lactation.

Prolactin is actively produced at night, so smoking cannot be categorically combined with breastfeeding at this time. For the rest of the time, the harm of smoking is obvious, but it is still possible to combine it with breastfeeding if you follow some tips.

The dangers of smoking for the health of women during breastfeeding

During pregnancy, the female body gives all the nutrients to the fetus, so the woman regains her health immediately after the birth of the crumbs. But the recovery process will be much slower in a smoking woman, since nicotine has firmly taken the place of nutrients and now they simply cannot be absorbed in the body.

Irritability and constant whims of the child do their work, and the mother soon becomes exhausted not only physically, but also psychologically. In addition, a smoking woman has the following problems:

1. Milk is produced in a smaller volume, since the amount of prolactin in the body decreases;
2. The quality of milk is deteriorating: it has much less vitamins and useful enzymes, almost no protective antibodies;
3. With 1 cigarette smoked, 4000 toxic substances enter the body, negatively affecting the work of all the organs of a woman, destroying beneficial compounds and oxygen cells in the blood;
4. Nicotine constricts blood vessels and milk ducts, which slows down the supply of oxygen to the tissues and makes the conclusion of milk difficult.

As a result, motherhood turns into a serious test for a woman. And it is worth asking the question, is it worth it a smoked cigarette?

Smoking during breastfeeding: implications for the baby

A baby who feeds on breast milk becomes a passive smoker and is exposed to serious hazards because of this:

1. Syndrome sudden death of babies - this is the greatest danger when smoking a mother. This is not related to organic pathologies or diseases, the baby just stops breathing in a dream. If the mother smokes, the risks grow 3 times, if the father smokes 5 or more times;
2. Hypotrophy (problems with the weight and height of the baby) - this is due to the decrease in mother's lactation and due to poor absorption of nutrients;
3. Sleep disturbance in a child, anxiety, increased regurgitation and vomiting, irritability, impairment of the nervous system, a slow pace of development;
4. Nicotine has a stimulating effect on the baby: it disrupts appetite and sleep, causes bouts of crying for several hours a day and meteorological dependence;
5. The susceptibility of the respiratory tract to microbes and viruses increases, which leads to frequent bronchitis, otitis media, pneumonia and bouts of false croup with laryngitis.

Children of smoking mothers often get sick for a long time, they have stronger colic and more often there are stool disorders and stomach pains, because nicotine activates receptors of the small and large intestine.

Since smoking is an addiction, the child is addicted to nicotine and in the future this leads to smoking a child from an early age.

The detrimental effect of smoking on breast milk and the feeding process

The negative impact of cigarettes does not end with the lungs, lactating women experience serious problems with lactation, because the substances contained in cigarettes have a strong effect on blood vessels and milk ducts, narrowing them.

Because of this process, breast milk can not pass through the ducts in full and the hormone prolactin ceases to be produced in the required amount, hence the problems with lactation.

In addition to reducing the amount of breast milk loses its nutritional value: there are practically no nutrients in it, protective antibodies are not enough to form a strong immune system in a child. Breast milk also has the ability to absorb the taste of foods eaten by the mother and cigarettes are no exception.

Because of the persistent tobacco taste in a child, colic begins and as a result he refuses to eat. Normally, smoking mothers breastfeed for no more than 4-6 months. After six months, the milk begins to dry out, or the child simply refuses from such nutrition.

How does smoking affect breastfeeding: the opinion of Dr. Komarovsky and other doctors

Many mothers appreciate the opinion of the famous pediatrician Komarovsky. Here is what he says about smoking a nursing mother:

"To argue over the well-known question" what is good and what is bad? "Does not make sense, because each of us knows what is what. Our mother likes to smoke. How to reduce the harmfulness of her smoking for a child? Make the amount of nicotine minimal.

It is best to switch to light cigarettes with a minimum nicotine content and smoke as little as possible. Unfortunately, there are no vitamins or medications that can neutralize the negative effects of nicotine.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide the child with normal nutrition, long walks and physical exertion (swimming, gymnastics). There’s nothing better than breastmilk, so smoking and milk are better than smoking. "

Other doctors believe that smoking is better to give up breastfeeding or significantly reduce the number of cigarettes. Otherwise, it is better to initially feed the child with nutritional mixtures or purchase milk in the dairy kitchen.

Nicotine and lactation: myths and facts

Despite the official statement of doctors and scientists about the dangers of smoking, there are 2 common myths:

• Nicotine does not circulate through the mother’s body by penetrating the milk.

He initially enters the lungs and in the blood of a woman who brings it into milk;

• Milk neutralizes harm from nicotine.

Unfortunately, breast milk does not have this power.

But the real and scientific facts few people know:

1. In smoking mothers, every 5th baby has a low body mass;
2. Obesity and diabetes mellitus in 3 more often manifested during pregnancy, smoking moms;
3. The risk of bronchial asthma increases;
4. The risk of autism in a child increases by 40%.

These are just a few facts that are extracted by ruthless statistics. Despite the fact that nicotine through breast milk is equivalent only to smoked cigarette, it is enough to cause irreparable harm to the health of the child. And this is unfortunately not a myth, but a harsh reality.

Artificial feeding - a way for a smoking mom?

Unable to quit smoking, many mothers decide to transfer the child to artificial feeding. Is this a way out? Despite the fact that nicotine will no longer enter the body of a child with milk, it will still come through the smoke and air, because mom will not stop smoking.

Therefore, the surest decision is to stop smoking. This is easy to do if you imagine that on one side of the scale is the health of the child, and on the other an addiction.

But if you don’t have the strength to quit smoking, then you shouldn’t sharply transfer the child to the mix. Despite the harm of nicotine, there are enough nutrients in breast milk to help the child adapt to the world and lay the foundation of his immunity.

Alternative to cigarettes

To quit smoking, people have developed entire programs, inventing several alternative means for cigarettes. Are they helpful and is it worth it for a smoking mother to use them? It is necessary to consider them in detail:

1. Electronic cigarettes seem safer than regular cigarettes, but they are not. The electronic simulator cartridge contains a nicotine fluid, in which vapors contain more carcinogens than a regular cigarette;
2. Nicotine patches are the safest agent for the period of lactation, since the concentration of nicotine in milk is reduced by 60%, but in small quantities, it is constantly in the body;
3. Nicotine gum and chewing gum from smoking - this method is recommended by doctors as a substitute for cigarettes, because the level of nicotine in them is 3 times less.

Quitting smoking should replace cigarettes with something tasty and useful (dried fruits, fruits, etc.) in order to cope with psychological breakdown more quickly.

How to stop smoking a nursing woman?

The main motivation for the mother is the health of her child. Therefore, it is this that must be put at the forefront in quitting smoking. To quit smoking, firstly, you should activate all your willpower and use alternative means at first, and secondly follow simple tips:

1. Do not smoke in the morning, on an empty stomach and 2 hours before meals;
2. Use lollipops or seeds as an alternative to cigarettes;
3. Smoking in an uncomfortable position;
4. Do not wear a cigarette lighter;
5. Do not pull deep;
6. Smoking cigarettes that do not like;
7. Do not buy more packs of cigarettes.

You can ask for help from a psychologist or in special groups to combat bad habits. The main thing to remember, for what all this - for the sake of the child's health.

Women reviews

A little more information about smoking during lactation is in the following video.

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