Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy

Women who smoke is one of the major causes of adverse outcomes for babies. Many damaging effects are due to mothers who smoke compared to mothers who did not. Encouraging and educating women early of the dangers of the detrimental effects of smoking during pregnancy will help reduce the number of complications and increase the health for both mother and baby. By conducting studies and evaluating these methods will allow us to gather the necessary data to improve and implement programs to help develop a pregnancy that is safe and decrease the health risks from the baby. Smoking and Pregnancy Smoking has been known to cause health problems for those who smoke and also for those exposed around them, known as second hand smoke. One known common health issue is cancer among those who smoke. Smoking during pregnancy doesn’t just affect the mother’s health, but also puts the fetus’s health at risk. The dangers associated with smoking during pregnancy include miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), birth defects (such as cleft lip or cleft palate), and even death (CDC, 2012). Creating a healthy environment for babies by quitting smoking will reduce the risk for these health risks. The baby will benefit from a healthy delivery and be less at risk of being born too early. Studies have also shown Statistics of Mothers who smoke According to the CDC in the 2008 Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS), women who reported smoking during the last three months of pregnancy is approximately 13%. Out of women who smoked 3 months before pregnancy, 45% were able to quit during pregnancy. Among women who quit smoking during pregnancy, 50% relapsed within 6 months after delivery. Women who smoked during pregnancy have babies with lower birth rates in comparison to mothers who did not smoke. The leading cause of infant deaths is low birth weight, within the United States results in more than 300,000 deaths annually (CDC, 2012). Research Question What interventions should be implemented to stop women from smoking during pregnancy? And what can benefit both mother and baby from avoid complications during pregnancy, delivery and their overall health. A method of educating women early of the dangers of the detrimental health effects that smoking causes on their own health and the health of their babies will create a foundation that will encourage them to quit. Creating a program that will evaluate and support women during and after their pregnancy will help encourage them to remain committed. Hypothesis Creating a smoking cessation intervention in pregnancy will help women stop smoking. This will help reduce the health risks associated with smoking among mothers who smoke during pregnancy. Educating and encouraging women to quit smoking will act as a support in the challenges that they may face. Problems in the Health Care One problem that health care faces with smoking cessation for women that are pregnant is the lack of training among professionals. Educating women of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy is the first step, but following up with the proper interventions and material used to help women understand and motivated. Another problem is the challenges that women face in the attempts of quitting. Smoking creates an addiction among those who smoke due to its chemicals that it possesses. Nicotine is the substance in smoking that creates this addiction. This addiction is a form of uncontrollable dependence in tobacco smoking to the point where severe physical, mental or emotional reactions would be caused by the stopping of smoking (Slowik, 2011). Knowing the effects of smoke to ones health and especially to a babies health is very motivating in quitting, but it isn’t easy when the addict possess the challenges to stop. One in three succeeds in stopping permanently before age 60 (Slowik, 2011). Tragically, by this time, the effect of smoking has already damaged the body and some could be irreversible. Research methods used in the health sciences, and their strengths and weaknesses The research in helping women to stop smoking is in surveying pregnant women who smoke. The qualitative method is to evaluate and analysis the results. A questionnaire survey in 1992 was carried out among general practitioners, midwives and obstetricians to measure the delivery of smoking cessation interventions in pregnancy. Most professionals among the study were seen asking the status of pregnant women, where they recorded smoking status and explained the risks of smoking during pregnancy. Fewer professionals gave advice to women on how to quit or document the status of smoking (Clasper & White, 1995). The weakness found in the study is the lack or insufficient training among the professionals. Even the lack of enjoyment or difficultly experienced in giving smoking cessation counseling was seen in the survey. The strength in this study is on step in creating a guidebook or manual for health professionals. Such as the Pregnets, Smoking Cessation for Pregnant and Post-partum women: A Toolkit for Health Professionals. This toolkit is designed as a guidebook for professionals in creating a smoking cessation for pregnant women as well as after the delivery of the baby. This helps create success in achieving the goal of encouraging women to stop smoking. After this program has been implemented studies within this method could be conducted with both qualitative and quantitative methods. Statistical data can be gathered to updated and make changes to existing material. Conclusion By gathering data in studies a successful smoking cessation could be created for women who are pregnant will reduce the health risk associated with smoking. Knowing the target individuals and creating methods in preventions and interventions in cessation smoking will help develop a successful program a safe and healthy pregnancy for mother and baby.ReferenceCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, (2012). Tobacco Use and Pregnancy What Are the Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy on the Health of Mothers and Their Babies? March 26, 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/tobaccousepregnancy/. Clasper, Paul & White, Martin. (1995). Smoking Cessation Interventions in Pregnancy: Practice and Views of Midwives, GPs and Obstetricians. Health Education Journal . March 27, 2012. http://hej.sagepub.com/content/54/2/150.abstract. Slowik, Guy MD. (2011). â€Å"What Is A Smoking Addiction?† EhealthMD. March 26, 2012. http://ehealthmd.com/content/what-smoking-addiction.