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Study Helps Pregnant Smokers Quit

Annual Report - 1997-1998

 When Gloria Escobedo became pregnant with her second child last year, she decided she had to stop smoking.

But how?

Fortunately, she found out that M. D. Anderson's Department of Behavioral Science offers a smoking cessation program that would help her quit and give her baby a healthy start.

The Very Important Pregnant Smokers (VIPS) program begun during the past fiscal year is designed specifically for expectant mothers in their first and second trimesters. VIPS offers advice, self-help brochures and other interventions to help pregnant women quit smoking, reduce their risk of relapse and remain abstinent after giving birth. A smoking cessation handbook and a series of videotapes also are provided.

For Escobedo, the easy-to-carry smoking cessation handbook - which suggests alternatives to lighting up such as walking, reading a book, finding a fun diversion and calling a friend - was particularly helpful.

"When I felt like I needed a cigarette, I would open the handbook and read it," she says.

Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have low birth-weight babies and complications during delivery. Smoking also increases the chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and childhood respiratory infections.

"I'm glad I went through the program," Escobedo says. "It made a big difference to me because I knew I didn't have to worry about my baby being born with any birth defects due to smoking."

1997-1998 Contents

Making Cancer History Through Targeting and Partnering

Patient Care

Research

Education

Prevention

Outreach


© 2012 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center