Smoking Cessation Intervention: The Practices of Maternity Care Providers

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the actual smoking intervention practices of maternity care providers. This study examines smoking intervention practices of maternity care providers in a large Midwestern city.

Methods: A telephone survey was used to collect information on the care of pregnant patients who smoke (n = 73).

Results: After brief counseling during the first prenatal care visit (98 percent), 84 percent of providers readdressed smoking at follow-up visits. Family physicians were significantly more likely than obstetricians to provide further counseling (97 versus 72 percent, P < 0.005). Common cessation interventions included provider counseling (99 percent) and recommending smoking cessation classes (26 percent). Reasons cited by providers for patients' inability to stop smoking during pregnancy included addiction, habit, and environment or family. Methods used to encourage smoking cessation did not correlate with those known to be effective for treating addiction, modifying behavior, or responding to family or social system problems.

Conclusion: Maternity care providers underutilize effective methods of smoking cessation for their patients who smoke and rely on less effective methods.