A few weeks ago my sister found out she was pregnant. She has been a 1-pack a day smoker who just quit cold turkey. She is now doing the electronic cigarette because she was having trouble. Like mood swings and cravings. I don't know how safe this is for baby and she also is planning to nurse. Are these safe during pregnancy and nursing as compared to all the harsh chemicals in cigarettes. Or should she do formula. Any stories, info, studies are of great help! Plus I already did a study and all I could find was about regular cigarettes and not e-cigs.
This would be best discussed with her doctor. Honestly in an open forum like this you may get a lot of very judgmental answers from people who don't understand what an addiction is like or who think they are perfect and can do no wrong.
Without any judgment, I think this is a great question for your sister to take to her OB/GYN. I did a google search on nicotine (which is what the e-cig delivers) and pregnancy and while nicotine is not great, period, she might want to talk to her doctor about cessation options (the patch had shown a slightly higher quit rate, btw.)
Here is an article, which,while inconclusive, may offer some information. Do not forget that there is a social aspect to smoking and vaping may be her way to 'do' the social piece and not feel left out. She's going to need a lot of support as well as a new, better habit to focus on. There's a lot of good information about how we verbalize changing habits to ourselves (instead of saying "I'm not going to smoke" to replace that with a preferred stress-reducer "I'm going to breathe clean and take a short walk" or "I'm going to breathe clean and meditate for two minutes on how happy my baby is that I'm giving her clean air to breathe"...
Here's the article:
http://www.quit.org.au/about/frequently-asked-questions/f...
Is she using e-cigs with or without nicotine? In Canada e-cigs cannot be sold with nicotine.
Any addiction is hard to conquer. And her body is going through a lot right now...so the shock of quitting might be too much on her and baby.
My mom's neighbor smoked a pack a day through both of her pregnancies. The oldest had more allergies than I've ever seen anyone have, and the youngest was totally fine. So I can't say whether or not the smoking contributed. She formula fed both of them, but she did that because she "didn't want to be stuck with her babies 24-7." Nice, huh?
So she needs to talk to her doctor. Smoking in general is not healthy, but she will need a professional to tell her the right way to handle this situation.
I thought e-cigs were just steam, but apparently, I am mistaken.
All I can say is my mom smoked the whole time she was pregnant with me - the doctors encouraged it to keep her weight down!
I certainly wouldn't recommend it, but other than almost losing her to lung cancer 40 years later, I seem to have turned out okay. Kudos to your sister for quitting cold turkey.
E-cigs are too new and no studies have been done at all. They are not regulated and are being treated as a novelty. Children can purchase them. They have flavors such as Gummi Bear, Cotton Candy and Bubble Gum. Celebrities are marketing them. They are making health claims. It's like the 50's with cigarettes. So to answer your question, no one knows if they are harmful or not - yet.
They do have nicotine in them. She should speak to her doctor about weaning off.
It is my understanding that there are trace amounts of alcohol in the the e-cigs. I overheard a couple of case workers talking and apparently some of the alcohol is coming up in their case's blood tests. I moved away and didn't hear the whole thing, but maybe you can google, alcohol electronic cigarette to find out.
She should talk to her doctor. But I had a friend who had to wean herself off slowly when she was pregnant instead of going cold turkey, because the withdrawals were too hard on her body/baby. Your sister definitely needs to talk to her doctor, though. I don't know anything about the e-cig.
