Can I smoke a hookah during breastfeeding?

Many young mothers are in a state of some stress after the birth of a baby. After all, after the pregnancy, the woman had to change her usual daily routine, to limit herself to food. The mother feels a constant lack of sleep, so she can often have nervous disorders. In order to somehow restore herself to a normal state, the newly-made mommy is trying to relax in ways familiar to her with her friends.

If the harmful properties of cigarettes and alcoholic drinks for pregnant and lactating mothers are known to almost everything, then the attitude to the hookah is not so critical. Therefore, some women consider hookah a harmless alternative to replace regular cigarettes or alcohol.

What is a hookah?

Smoking a hookah is a whole ceremony,which is considered attractive due to its oriental flavor and exotic. Many people believe that hookah is a great way to relax your nerves and quickly have fun.

Hookah is a vessel in the form of a flask, which consists of a long tapered neck or shaft. At the top of the hookah there is a saucer and a bowl. A hose and a mouthpiece are attached to the bottom of the bulb. Thanks to this structure, the path for the passage of smoke increases significantly, which then settles in the lungs. At the same time, part of the harmful substances, as well as tar and ash remain on the walls of the vessel and hoses from the inside.

Usually the hookah vessel is filled with water. It is poured down the flask, so that the smoke in the vessel passes through all stages of filtration and cools down. This allows you to save airways from burning and does not harm the vocal cords. However, how useful is the hookah for the health of a nursing mother? And is it really as harmless as some experienced smokers claim?

Hookah - good or harm?

Hookah smoking is considered a great way to break free from nervous tension, relax and have a good time.Some people are attracted by the process of making hookah itself and the atmosphere prevailing around. After all, indeed, hookah smoke under a special mood, which helps to release unnecessary thoughts and get calm.

Due to the aromatic additives, the taste of hookah becomes even more attractive. While smoking, you can not use tobacco, and instead of water, add a liquid with aromatic oils or herbs with healing properties. Therefore, at first glance, hookah smoking does not look like a bad habit, but as a therapeutic procedure in the form of inhalation.

However, it is important to know that in reality the hookah is not so harmless to health. When a person inhales the scent of a hookah through a mouthpiece, he gets much more smoke than a smoker from a single smoked cigarette. In this case, the smoke turns into carbon monoxide gas, which penetrates inside and settles in the lungs of a person. When smoking a hookah for about one hour, as much carbon monoxide penetrates into the smoker’s body as much as a whole pack of cigarettes can develop.

It is also known for certain that the purified smoke in a hookah vessel is not as harmless as many believe.Inside the smoke contains carcinogens that are harmful to human health. That is why while smoking hookah, do not deeply draw smoke into the lungs. Once inside the body, moist smoke completely fills the entire space of the lungs and settles on their walls.

In addition, the content of the smoking mixture for hookah also causes a health hazard. Most of these mixtures do not pass the quality check, so it is impossible to know exactly how harmful such a composition is to the human lungs. Indeed, in the composition of such products may include additional harmful substances in the form of flavors and preservatives.

In addition, when smoking hookah you should not forget about hygiene. The mouthpiece, hookah flask and hoses must be thoroughly cleaned and washed before the next use. Also, with each smoking, it is necessary to change the liquid inside the hookah. However, it is not in every hookah that these hygiene rules are observed; therefore, some of the residues from a previous smoking session may fall into the lungs of another person.

Hookah use during breastfeeding

Nursing women should think a few times before deciding to smoke a hookah during lactation. After all, a nursing mother bears a great responsibility not only for her body, but also for the health of a newborn baby.

1. If one smoking session in a hookah room doesn’t harm much the mother’s health, then many harmful substances will get into the baby’s body. In addition, the properties and taste of breast milk are directly dependent on what the nursing mother ate or drank. And if a harmful chemical composition gets into the woman's body, it can greatly affect the proper development of the baby.
2. After smoking the hookah, harmful chemicals enter the mother’s bloodstream. These are carcinogens, tar residues from smoke, nicotine, preservatives, carbon monoxide products, etc. After these harmful components are deposited in the body of the nursing mother, along with the blood they get into the mother's milk, which the woman then feeds her baby. smoke from the hookah destroys the beneficial vitamins and trace elements in the mother's body, which are important for the full growth and development of the child.
3. If a woman often smokes a hookah during lactation, then she may encounter problems with breastfeeding. In her body can decrease the amount of milk being fed.At the same time, the taste and quality of breast milk will also deteriorate.

What are the consequences of smoking hookah when breastfeeding:

• a newborn baby does not sleep well and feels anxiety;
• the baby may have an appetite for nothing, and he will refuse mother's milk;
• the newborn may be allergic;
• the child becomes too restless;
• the baby may develop asthma;
• infants begin to disturb colic in the stomach;
• the baby becomes lethargic and feels tired.

After a single session of the hookah, the nursing mom can and will feel relief for a while, however, how much harm she will bring to the child’s fragile body. In addition, if a young mother often smoking a hookah, in her body can develop a certain dependence on this habit.

A nursing woman is better to give up the bad habit and take care of your newborn baby. After all, there are so many ways to relax, not harming the crumbs.A new mother will enjoy a walk in the fresh air, rest in the country, a trip to a beauty salon or a shop, a trip to friends. These small entertainments will strengthen the health of the mother, and also slightly diversify her life, help to forget about temporary difficulties and fatigue.

Video: Smoking Breastfeeding