Thursday, 6 June 2013

Thursdays Thing I Hate: Selfish Smokers! Featuring SKYCIG e-cigarettes

This week my chosen subject to rant on is SMOKING!

This has always been something that's irritated me, I doubt that many people enjoy the stale stench of days-old cigarette smoke in peoples houses or on their clothes - the worst irritation for me would be when buying something off ebay that promised to be from a "Smoke Free Home" which arrived stinking to high heaven before I'd even opened the parcel! - but during pregnancy, my irritation grew.

It is truly astounding how many selfish smokers there are out there - the number of people who think nothing of exhaling their fumes all over a pregnant woman.

Two incidents come to mind when thinking of my encounters with selfish smokers while pregnant - 

One was when I was sitting outside the maternity wing of the hospital, waiting for my other half to bring the car around to pick me up, I was sitting on the only bench allocated - when two men came up beside me, sat down and started smoking.

My bump was pretty damn big by this time - there was no mistaking that I was pregnant - nor that they were sitting outside a maternity wing. But did they care?! No. Did they think maybe it would be more respectful and considerate for them to stand up and smoke a few feet away? No.

Instead I - the 34 week pregnant woman - had to walk a few feet away and wait standing up for my partner, so that these "gentlemen" had a nice comfy seat while they indulged their habit.

Another incident was when I was leaving the midwife clinic one day - again, I was around 37 weeks along - heavily pregnant. As I was walking out, the smell of putrid cigarette smoke hit me and I struggled to try to hold my breath as I walked past a woman walking ahead of me puffing away - I was thinking about how selfish she was to not even have waited until she got off the midwifes premises before she started smoking, for the sake of the pregnant women there...but I passed her and looked at her - I realise that she too had a huge bump. 
And there she was - about 38 weeks pregnant, standing outside her MIDWIFES OFFICE, smoking - with no shame.

Now I know that smokers will always argue and say that its an addiction, they physically CAN'T give up - even for 9 months while pregnant! They've tried, etc.
Or they'll give the usual excuses ... "My mother smoked while she was having me and it didn't do me any harm"...."I smoked while I was having my first, no point in stopping for this one...."....etc etc etc.

In my personal opinion, no matter what the excuse - I think its vile to smoke while pregnant, and I think its REALLY disrespectful to smoke around pregnant people and children.

I was lucky enough to be raised by parents who don't smoke (My mother never has, my father did when he was younger but he gave up when I was very very young and has never looked back since) - but of course not all children do. 
Some parents try very hard to do the best they can and not smoke around their children, not smoke in the car, etc - but as all of the anti-smoking campaign ads show - even with the best intentions it is very very difficult to ensure that your child doesn't breathe in the fumes.

So of course the best option is to stop.

For your childrens sake and for your own.

And I do realise that there are some smokers out there who are NOT selfish and would never dream of smoking around children or pregnant people - I appreciate the efforts of these people, unfortunately there is always someone to ruin it for everybody though!

I realise that stopping a habit like smoking isn't easy - but with things like electronic cigarettes around now, it could be that much easier.

My partner was a smoker when I met him - one day while we were on a weekend away in London he was asked to try an e-cigarette by a stallholder, he was apprehensive and skeptical - but he ended up being very impressed!!

He ordered a set when we got home, and he has never looked back since.

He went from smoking 25 cigarettes a day, to now being completely unable to stomach the smell of cigarettes - all in the space of about a month!

If you would like to stop smoking, it really could be worth giving e-cigarettes a try - Jon recently trialled SKYCIGs and was very impressed.
He enjoyed the flavours - he was sent 5 flavours to try (classic tobacco, cherry cinnamon, menthol, tobacco gold and crown tobacco)- his favourite flavour was the cherry cinnamon as he said it genuinely tasted like cherry and it was really refreshing.

 He was also a fan of the charger which was designed to look like a cigarette packet - lightweight and sleek.


If you are thinking of stopping smoking and would like to give SKYCIG a try, go to

What are your thoughts on smokers? Have you ever had any run-ins with selfish smokers? Are you a smoker yourself?

Have you checked out my Super Sparkler Advertiser this month?




  1. Annoys me when I see pregnant women smoking! xx

  2. Hi, It makes me sick to the core when i see pregnant mums smoking or mums pushing prams smoking or mums in cars with kids in the back, smoking. I HATE it. I think they are selfish d***s. I DID smoke occasionally pre-pregnancy. And I took it up again after the birth of my son but kept it to when he'd gone to bed....i hated the thought of him seeing me smoking and smelling it on me. I'm pregnant again of course gave up as soon as i found out. Hopefully this time, i won't be going back. I wish they'd make it illegal!

    1. Hi Jess!
      I agree completely, it should be illegal! I'm so glad you were able to stop smoking during pregnancy, it must be very difficult but I think anybody with any sense will make sure they manage it for the love of their unborn child - so well done! I hope you manage to stay away this time.
      Have you tried ecigs? My partner really does swear by them!


    2. Haven't tried ecigs mainly because i don't miss it when i don't smoke...i don't think i smoked enough really to need that kind of help. HOWEVER...i might try them should i have the need when i pop this one out. :) And btw it wasn't even a decision to give was a given. :D

  3. You share the same view as me! I gave up smoking whilst we were trying for Finley and I still dont smoke now...I dont know why I ever did! And it wasnt that hard to be honest. When I was in the maternity unit just after giving birth a lady was wheeled up into the bed next to me and got up left her brand new baby and asked the midwife where she could smoke??? Another girl I used to work with smoked all the way through her pregnancy and used the excuse it would do more harm to the baby to stop because of the stress it would cause her!!! Gahhh it gets me mad! Really great post :) Kayleigh xxx

    1. Omg how horrible is that?! A woman on my maternity ward did the same thing! She'd literally JUST given birth! :/
      I'm so glad you managed to stop and haven't looked back after having Finley!! Shows it can be done no matter what excuses people use! :)
      Thanks hun! :)

  4. I hate smoking too! Its disgusting. My mother would sit with my newborn in one arm and a cigerette in the other hand and I would hit the roof but she never paid a blind bit of attention. Smoking is an addiction and I do not envy smokers at all, like with any addiction it causes them to not think of others and just indulge as and when their body demands it. Alcoholism, drugs even sugar addiction, it encourages the same kind of behaviour. That is no excuse though and Im glad you wrote this post, hopefully itll go some way to getting someone somewhere to quit.

    1. Its vile isn't it?! That is horrible that your mother did that. Did she smoke while pregnant?

  5. Pregnant women smoking, anyone smoking with a child in the car... makes me so mad. Did you know smoking around a child can actually cause seasonal allergies or asthma? Why would you inflict that on a child you love?

    I understand it's an addiction but ANY addiction can be overcome with enough willpower.

    I was so happy to hear about e-cigs though. My mom used to smoke and picked one up and it makes me happy to know she's not smoking around my sisters anymore. My fiance's grandma just got one because she cares for her special needs granddaughter. She can use it in the wheelchair van on their way to appointments without causing extra harm.

    Unfortunately in the US they seem to be banned in public places. I'd much rather encourage people to use e-cigs by letting them use them in restaurants than have them smoke right outside the door.

  6. It is sad when I see a pregnant woman smoking. The poor child has to suffer and the mother has no restraint over her own habit. So sad!

  7. I am a smoker, 2 of my friends are pregnant and when we go anywhere together I don't smoke, I don't smoke around my little brother who is 8 and I would never dream of smoking if I got pregnant. A girl who I know keeps talking to me about how much she is excited to have her baby and what she has bought for him etc. and still I see her outside the pub smoking like a chimney with a pint! Even as a smoker I do not agree with this at all! I cant even bring myself to speak to her when she is smoking anymore because it makes me angry and I have to bite my tongue every time because when I have said something in the past I am 'interfering' I have recently bought an e-cig and I am trying my best to just use that! I do at home so my clothes and house doesn't smell but when im out I have proper cigarettes.

  8. Both my parents used to smoke, but stopped when they had me, which turned out to be a very good move. I used to bug my sister when she smoked about giving up, and she borrowed my stuff when she went out and that came back stinking of smoke. I am sure it is really hard to give up, and easy to get addicted, I wouldn't dismiss it, but I hate smoking, and I just think with all the health risks, why do it. I'd hate anyone smoking around my child if I had one.

  9. i am a smoker and it is my choice to do so. It is not my choice to decide for others to breath my smoke. too many smokers are oblivious to their surroundings.

  10. My son was born prematurely and as he was in NICU, I was put on a prenatal ward rather than in delivery with him so when I went outside for air, it was filled with pregnant women rather than ones who had just given birth. I remember my best friend came to visit me 2 days after having him and I walked her to the doors after her visit and there were 3 heavily pregnant women standing in their pyjamas smoking right outside the maternity ward!

  11. Totally agree! I hate walking behind a smoker - it makes me cough, and I cannot understand how they swallow that when even the amount that is 'passed on' makes me choke!
    It may be an addiction, but addictions are not impossible to get over. You'd think a child would be more important than the addiction!

  12. My mum gave up smoking the day I had Oscar. A few days before she asked me to accompany her to the shop to buy some e-cigs and got the Menthol flavour oil that go in them so they were like her 'regular' cigarettes. As Oscar is 5 weeks old today we know exactly how well she's done. Mind you, I only ever see her have a puff on it now and then so I think she'd have had the willpower to give up without help! My dad is still smoking but if he knows we're visiting her won't smoke in the house for at least 24 hours and my mum constantly uses air fresheners and candles to try and ensure that we don't all stink when we're there. I think it's nice that they're making such an effort as I really didn't think they would :)

    Lou x

    Confessions of a Secret Shopper

  13. I think women that smoke whilst pregnant are disgusting and selfish. I was waiting to see my midwife the other day at the hospital and a heavily pregnant lady said to her partner that she was just going out for a smoke, I looked at her in disgust, her poor unborn child. I also can't stand women who walk along pushing their children having a cigarette its vile.xx

  14. As an ex smoker I am always hugely irritated by the smell if smoke and that you cannot sit in a pub garden without having to put up with other peoples smoke, although it is much better when it was in doors. With products like these e cigarettes, I don't think there is really any need to smoke any mpre addiction or not. I am always also annoyed by the slefish way that many people behave!

  15. Excellent post, I must say.... Thanks for sharing such alerting article with us.

  16. I make mad when i see Pregnant Smoking. Ff the pregnant smoking the baby born too early or weigh less.




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