Smoking Mothers-To-Be

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/24/test-pregnant-women-smoking-nice

Summary:

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) says that every expectant mother should have a carbon monoxide test to see whether they smoke so they can get the appropriate advice for quitting. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) diasgrees because they think it would make the pregnant women who smoke feel guilty. When the representative stated that it is not intended to penalise, but to encourage the women to quit, the midwives granted that it would be better for both the mothers and babies but were sceptical about the use of these test because of costs.

Personal Opinion:

I think it’s a great idea to do this because it seems very selfish for pregnant women to continue smoking regardless of the harm it could do to their baby. Furthermore I think the midwives are hypocritical and cheap. They know it would be good for pregnant women to stop smoking but just don’t want to spend any money so they used some dumb reason not to do it. As far as women feeling guilty for harming their unborn child: why shouldn’t they? Guilt is one of the biggest motivators to do the right thing. When I was preganant I drank one glass of wine and felt so guilty afterwards that I never did it again during my whole pregnancy and while breastfeeding.