Jul
On Monday, USA Today examined the rate of smoking among pregnant women and the success rates of various programs to help such women quit. According to Tom Glynn of the American Cancer Society, about 45% of pregnant smokers are able to quit, compared with a rate of about 10% to 20% among all smokers who usually quit after going through a smoking cessation program.
Research shows that even three minutes of smoking cessation counseling by a physician doubles the likelihood that a pregnant woman will quit smoking, Tracy Orleans, senior scientist at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said. Robert Wood Johnson implements a program in which counselors give pregnant women who do not smoke coupons for infant supplies, Orleans said. The program tests women’s blood for nicotine byproducts. “It breaks quitting up into smaller segments of time,” Orleans said, adding, “So women think, ‘I just have to get through the next month,’ or ‘If I can make it just 10 more days until I get my next checkup, I can get this $20 gift certificate.’ It helps you rally the willpower you need.”
However, half of pregnant smokers who quit begin smoking again within six months of childbirth, according to CDC. Up to 80% of women who quit during pregnancy are smoking again within one year, the American Legacy Foundation reports. People often return to smoking during times of stress, and women who are experiencing postpartum depression are more likely to resume smoking, according to Alex Parks of the American Legacy Foundation. The American Cancer Society reports that about half of women who smoke during pregnancy are living with a mood disorder. Because mothers often see pediatricians more than their own physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Smoke-Free Home Program trains pediatricians on counseling parents to quit smoking. About 75% of women smokers say they want to quit, and about half say they have tried in the last year, according to the American Cancer Society (Szabo, USA Today, 7/28).
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