SPARC Forums

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but as I'm getting all my ducks in a row and listening to her false accusations of doing what's best for our son, she smoked every day during her pregnancy despite my pleading with her. Cigarettes are proven to be unsafe for unborn fetuses which to me would seem like not doing what's best for our son.. How can I use this to my advantage? (god that sounds terrible to put it that way)

It wont....unless child is born with a condition or has asthma then it can be addressed in court. You can also add a line that states, "no one will smoke around child at all including in the car".

There is no 'advantage'........I smoked during my entire pregnancy and the only reason why DS was 7.3 lbs. when he was born (which is a very healthy weight...babies of smokers are theoretically supposed to be underweight) is probably because I only weighed 105 when I got pregnant with him.  Many things have been proven to be unsafe to the unborn, but short of illegal drugs (and sometimes not even then), the courts will not consider it.  Unless you can PROVE that her smoking during the pregnancy HAS caused damage to your child (very difficult), it isn't an issue.

Ok, thanks, Kitty. Mine was also born at 7.3... She's a little bigger than that and he was a little underweight, but I guess there's not much to be done.

If mother is a moderate to heavy smoker, doctors will recommend that they not try to quit smoking. Cut down, yes, but not quit. The stress of quitting can be far worse on the baby than smoking...