Introduction
Most people are aware that smoking can cause long-term damage to the health of the smoker. Even so-called passive smoking, which affects those around the smoker, should be avoided if possible. But also unborn children in the womb are not spared from the pollutants contained in each cigarette.
Therefore, smoking is strictly forbidden for expectant mothers during pregnancy. But is it still allowed to smoke as a mother during the nursing period? In the following you will find the answers to many questions about this topic.
Is it allowed to smoke during the breastfeeding period?
Breastfeeding is an important period in the life of the newborn child. Through the mother’s milk, the child receives not only food and important nutrients, but also the so-called borrowing immunity, also called nest protection. This nest protection is very important for a newborn child, since the child does not yet have its own fully developed immune system.
Breastfeeding is therefore generally only warmly recommended. However, it is more difficult to give breastfeeding advice to smoking mothers. A clear recommendation is, of course, to stop smoking during the entire breastfeeding period – and also afterwards.
One thing must therefore be said quite clearly at this point: Smoking during the breastfeeding period harms the child, but not breastfeeding also harms the child. In the difficult case that a mother does not want to give up smoking during the breastfeeding period, it is advisable to pay attention to a few things in order to make breastfeeding as safe as possible according to the circumstances. Conscious smoking breaks before breastfeeding and a reduction in the number of cigarettes as far as possible improves the situation for the child enormously.
Also, smoking should never be done during breastfeeding as secondhand smoke is an additional danger for the child. However, there are no uniform opinions on the breastfeeding situation of a smoking mother. As a smoking mother you may breastfeed, but you must be aware of the possible consequences for the child. One should also take important measures, such as smoking breaks, before breastfeeding in order to keep the exposure of the child to harmful substances as low as possible.
