•Pregnancy may increase the
importance of quitting but it does not necessarily increase the ability to
quit
•
•Health care provider may enable
smoking by giving:
–inconsistent advice
–no advice
Pregnancy is a
time in a woman’s life when she is most motivated to quit smoking.Despite this fact, only about one third of
women manage to quit during pregnancy, which gives an indication of how
difficult it is for women to quit.
And of those who
do manage to quit while pregnant, approximately 70% will relapse within a
year.
TEACHING
NOTE:
Discuss
participants’ experiences of what has worked/not worked for them with respect
to pregnant women and smoking cessation.Talk about focusing on the value of the woman’s health as well as that
of the fetus.
Bring up the
issue of advising pregnant women to cut back the amount smoked even if they
can’t quit altogether.
