| This was an interesting study that I read about | | | | back up when they feel stressed or anxious or |
| that really wasn't about how depression affected | | | | tired, thinking that it will help them better cope |
| significantly more pregnant women than | | | | with these feelings, although in the end, they |
| non-pregnant, but rather a link between the | | | | actually shoot themselves in the foot and it |
| reason why a (too) high percentage of women | | | | exacerbates these types of symptoms. |
| smoke when pregnant, despite knowing about the | | | | Most women who become pregnant are educated |
| health risks they are putting on their fetus and on | | | | about the risks they are putting their child at by |
| themselves. | | | | smoking. Risks for fetuses and babies include |
| It is suggested that the reason many of these | | | | low birth weight, a risk of miscarriage, and it has |
| women are not quitting while pregnant even | | | | also been linked to many behavioral and learning |
| though that is the "socially acceptable" thing to do | | | | disorders as well, although it is not clear exactly |
| and the physically more healthy thing to do, is an | | | | how smoking causes this, it is just statistically |
| underlying tendency toward depression. This is | | | | higher in children born to smoking mothers, who |
| being studied, because physicians would like to be | | | | smoked while pregnant with the child. |
| more able to help these women with their | | | | The whole purpose of these findings is to help |
| underlying depression and have them want to | | | | women quit smoking who are pregnant, but may |
| quit smoking instead of feeling forced into it. If | | | | not be otherwise able to quit on their own, |
| they feel less depressed, they most likely will not | | | | because they really feel that they can't quit. |
| want to smoke as badly. | | | | Depression is definitely a confidence zapper, and it |
| People want to quit, but the physiological effects | | | | adds to the fact that these women think they |
| of smoking withdrawal are often too intense for | | | | need cigarettes to cope with their anxieties and |
| them to go all the way with it and see it to the | | | | stressors, and it really is just making it worse. |
| end. Also, many end up picking the smoking habit | | | | |