“To my disbelief [a] huge cloud of smoke came out of her mouth she looked around 6-7 months pregnant and had her other 3 children with her who were young, [whom] she was smoking [next] to,” she wrote. “I was so upset and angry and wanted to say something, I could not stop looking over at her she had two cigarettes in the 10 minutes we were there which she opening smoked and did not care.”
Danielle admitted that she herself was a smoker, but made the decision that she would never smoke around her kids — which is when a lot of the other Netmums users made a quick U-turn away from Team Danielle.
“Each to their own but I don’t think our poor life choices should be impacted on a child who doesn’t have a choice to not be around it!” she wrote. “I really did not no what to do I wish I had said something … it has really disturbed me and I keep thinking about it maybe some of you might not think it’s a big deal but whilst carrying a baby, I do not think you should be smoking!”
And while Danielle made the point that she doesn’t smoke near her children, secondhand smoke is also cause for concern. The CDC notes that “secondhand smoke causes numerous health problems in infants and children, including more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome.” And makes the distinction that “there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.”
