Harm Reduction

Harm Reduction

We know that when mom smokes it is very hard on an unborn child and on babies exposed to second hand smoke. There are poisonous chemicals, in tobacco smoke and those are released into the pregnant mom’s blood stream and the unborn child is exposed to them. Children who are around 2^nd hand smoke are also exposed. The unborn child’s oxygen level is also limited by the carbon monoxide found in cigarette smoke, which causes less oxygen to be available to the developing child. The nature of addiction makes quitting or reducing the cigarettes smoked very difficult, but definitely worth the effort!

What can mom’s do who aren’t ready to quit but want to limit the harmful effects on their babies? There is a process called harm reduction, which is cutting down on the cigarettes smoked so you can reduce the harm caused by smoking on your baby.

There are many things to do that will help you limit your smoking. A smoking log is a good way to begin. A smoking log is a small card where you write down each cigarette you smoke, the Time, the Need, (S-strong, M-moderate, or L-light), your Mood (how you are feeling at the time), and the Activity (what you were doing at the time).

No. Time Need Mood Activity
______1__ 8:00___AM___ M__ relaxed coffee
______2 __10:30__ AM___ S__ stressed break
______3 __12:00__PM____L___content lunch break

When you look at the time and need categories you can get a sense of when your body expects a cigarette and which cigarettes might be easiest to give up because the need (craving) isn’t as intense. Some cigarettes are part of your routine and might be difficult to cut out but others might have been smoked when you are bored or you and a friend were hanging out together, those cigarettes might be easier to pass on.

With the Mood and Activity categories you can learn what your triggers for smoking are. Many women have been able to learn how to cope with stress, anger or sadness in a way that is not smoking. This might be through breathing exercises, physical activity or changing a routine so that your brain doesn’t associate smoking with the activity. The smoking log can teach us a lot about the role that cigarettes play in our lives, and by learning about that we are better able to limit and decide where we can eliminate a cigarette here and there throughout the day. Each time you don’t smoke a cigarette you are contributing to the health of your child.

I hope this will help you eliminate some cigarettes from your day. It is what we sometimes call harm reduction because though you aren’t quitting you are definitely making decisions about smoking that will improve the quality of life of your child. Each time you decide not to smoke a cigarette you are finding the strength within yourself to overcome part of the powerful force of addiction in your life. I hope you will recognize the strength you have from within to combat this difficult addiction.