SMOKING WITH BRIDGET

BRIDGET tasted her first cigarette in standard seven; many of her friends who she admired were smoking.

“I thought I should try smoking, too,” she said. By the time she was the age of 14, she smoked every day. She would steal cigarettes from her father or buy a pack on the way home from school. By high school, Bridget realised she couldn’t go two hours without smoking, which resulted in her skipping classes. At that point she realised she had a problem, but couldn’t stop.

Years later, Bridget was working her way through university, newly engaged, and still smoking a pack a day, when she learned she was pregnant. She had tried to quit smoking several times before, but had failed. The stress of school, planning a wedding and worrying about the health of her unborn baby due to her smoking overwhelmed her. She’d find herself turning to cigarettes to cope.

A few months later, she was rushed to Princess Marina Hospital. Her daughter was born too early, a danger for all pregnant women who continue to smoke. The tiny, premature baby had a weak, soft cry and was put in an incubator for babies who are born too early and too small. She was born nearly 3 months before she was due.

“I had always planned on having children, but not before I was married or finished with university. And I definitely didn’t plan on smoking while I was pregnant,” said Bridget.

“I tried hard to quit,” she said. “I would throw a 20 pack of cigarettes in the trash, thinking ‘I’m done,’ and by the end of the day, I’d buy another one.” The addiction had crept into every aspect of Bridget’s life. She smoked when she was under stress. Whether at work or school, she sneaked outside for cigarettes throughout the day, even during the really cold winter months.

Bridget was about 6 months into her pregnancy when things started to go wrong. She was rushed to the hospital by an ambulance. Doctors delivered her baby by an emergency C-section, a little girl who weighed just 2 kilograms. The baby spent her first weeks of life in the neonatal intensive care unit. She was fed through a tube and received special care for premature babies.

Once home, the baby struggled to gain weight and got sick easily. Before her first birthday, she developed allergies and asthma, a serious lung problem that makes it hard to breathe. Breathing problems are more common in premature babies. Now, at age 7, the girl takes four medicines on a regular basis, has stunted growth and a learning disability.

“I feel a tremendous amount of guilt for my daughter being born early,” said Bridget. “I knew that smoking was bad. I didn’t think it would happen to me. I didn’t think I would have a premature baby. I didn’t think my child would have asthma and all these added complications. I made my baby sick!” cried Bridget.

To quit smoking, Bridget focused on ways to relieve stress. “The stress definitely doesn’t go away after your cigarette. Whatever your reality is, whatever is making you want to smoke, that’s still there after you have your cigarette,” she said. Bridget used prayer, exercise, and distraction to handle her stress without a cigarette. She even went a step further and outsourced support from an addiction counsellor from BOSASNET.

Bridget hopes that sharing her story will help other people quit smoking, and the sooner the better. Her father, a smoker, recently learned that he has advanced lung cancer. He quit smoking, and he’s one of Bridget’s biggest supporters in sharing her own story with the world. She hopes her children will have the chance to get to know their grandfather.

If you think that you might have a problem with tobacco use, or if you have a family member or friend who does, we encourage you to seek help. For some, it can mean the difference between life and death. You can find BOSASNET on Facebook or call us at 3959119/72659891 for more information.