Can I smoke a hookah while breastfeeding?

Many young mothers after the birth of a baby are in a state of some stress. After all, after pregnancy, a woman had to change her usual daily routine, limit herself to food. A woman in labor feels a constant lack of sleep, so she can often experience nervous breakdowns. In order to at least somehow restore herself to normal condition, the newly minted mother is trying to relax in ways familiar to her among her friends.

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

What is a hookah?

Hookah smoking is a ceremony that is considered attractive due to its oriental flavor and exoticism. Many people think that a hookah is a great way to relax your nerves and quickly have fun.

A hookah is a vessel in the form of a flask, which consists of a long narrowed neck or shaft. At the top of the hookah there is a saucer and a bowl. A hose and mouthpiece is attached to the bottom of the flask. Due to this structure, the pathway for smoke passage is significantly increased, 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 a hookah vessel is filled with water. It is poured down the flask, so that the smoke in the vessel goes through all stages of filtration and cools. This allows you to protect the airways from burning and not harm the vocal cords. However, how beneficial is hookah for the health of a nursing mother? And is he really as harmless as some experienced smokers claim?

Hookah - benefit or harm?

Smoking a hookah is considered a great way to get rid of nervous tension, relax and have a good time. Some people are attracted by the process of cooking hookah and the atmosphere that prevails around. Indeed, hookah is smoked under a special mood, which helps to release unnecessary thoughts and get reassurance.

Thanks to 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 medicinal properties. Therefore, at first glance, smoking a hookah does not look like a bad habit, but as a medical 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 aroma of a hookah through a mouthpiece, he receives much more smoke than a smoker from one smoked cigarette. In this case, the smoke turns into carbon monoxide, which penetrates inside and settles in the lungs of a person. When smoking a hookah for about one hour, as much carbon monoxide enters the smoker's body as can be produced after smoking a whole pack of cigarettes.

It is also known for certain that the purified smoke in a hookah vessel is not as harmless as many people think. The smoke contains carcinogens that are harmful to human health. That is why while smoking a hookah, do not deeply draw the 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 quality checks, so you can’t find out exactly how harmful such a composition is to human lungs.Indeed, the composition of such products may include additional harmful substances in the form of flavorings and preservatives.

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

Breastfeeding Hookah

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

1. If one smoking session in the hookah does not greatly harm the health of the mother, then a lot of harmful substances will enter the baby's body. In addition, the properties and taste of breast milk directly depend on what the nursing mother ate or drank. And if a woman gets a harmful chemical composition, this can greatly affect the correct development of the baby.
2. After smoking a hookah, harmful chemicals enter the mother’s blood. These are carcinogens, tar residues from smoke, nicotine, preservatives, carbon monoxide products, etc. After these harmful components settle in the body of a nursing mother, they pass into the mother’s milk together with blood, which the woman then feeds her baby. smoke from a hookah destroys useful vitamins and minerals 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, she may encounter problems with breastfeeding. In her body, the amount of breast milk being nailed may decrease. At the same time, the taste and quality of breast milk will also deteriorate.

What are the consequences of smoking a hookah while breastfeeding:

• a newborn baby does not sleep well and feels restless;
• the baby may lose appetite, and he will refuse mother's milk;
• a newborn may develop an allergy;
• the child becomes too restless;
• the baby may develop asthma;
• the baby begins to bother with colic in the abdomen;
• the baby becomes lethargic and feels tired.

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

It is better for a nursing woman to abandon a bad habit and take care of her newborn baby. After all, there are so many ways to relax that do not harm the baby. A new mother will do a walk in the fresh air, rest in the country, a trip to a beauty salon or a store, a trip to friends. These small entertainments will strengthen the mother’s health, as well as diversify her life a little, help to forget about temporary difficulties and fatigue.

Video: smoking while breastfeeding