Smoked in first pregnancy. Too hard to quit for the next pregnancy? No!
There is conclusive evidence that smoking during pregnancy harms the fetus, yet some women continue to smoke after finding out that they are pregnant. Why? One reason is because it is extremely difficult to quit. For the women that smoke during their first pregnancy, is quitting for the next pregnancy a lost cause? Not according to our findings. More than a third of smokers manage to quit for their second pregnancy despite smoking during their first. Our findings show that this translates to a 25% reduction in the risk of preterm birth. Given that many women become pregnant again within two years of giving birth, we need quit smoking campaigns that target the postpartum period. The media release is here.
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