A WHO research on smoking in Cambodia reveals that many women start smoking when they get pregnant to mitigate the nausea of the first months.
Nausea is one of the typical discomforts of pregnancy, along with excess salivation. To combat them it is recommended to take small amounts of food throughout the day because the feeling of an empty stomach aggravates the discomfort.
That is why they put a bunch of tobacco in their mouths and chew it, something that most pregnant women would throw up without stopping, Cambodians help relieve nausea.
The tobacco leaves are mixed with lime and betel, a natural stimulant that produces a bright red juice and has been used for centuries in the Asia-Pacific area. They bundle a bunch and put that mixture in their mouths for long periods.
Smoking is a worrying problem in Cambodia, the WHO catalogs it as an epidemic. There is practically no older person who does not chew tobacco. Precisely one in five women in rural areas who use tobacco acquires the habit of becoming pregnant and then keep it.
Being an accessible remedy against nausea, many women adopt it. But the harm of chewing tobacco is the same as smoking it, although without smoke. It puts the health of the mother and the baby at risk, increasing the chances of low birth weight, lung problems and increased risk of miscarriage.
It is a serious problem that health authorities face when trying to reduce tobacco consumption in countries like Cambodia where tradition is so entrenched.
