Smoking mums-to-be get deadline to quit
By Sue Dunlevy
December 20, 2006 12:00am
DOCTORS will give women two weeks to quit smoking after they become
pregnant, then prescribe nicotine replacement therapy under a plan to cut
the smoking rate.
On the anti-smoking program, launched yesterday, doctors will give pregnant
women a questionnaire on their smoking habits.
Doctors will devise an individual plan to help smokers quit the habit and
put them in touch with Quitline.
Pregnant women will be encouraged to give up smoking by delaying cigarettes,
practising deep breathing when they have cravings, drinking water, or
distracting themselves.
The patient's progress will be reviewed after two weeks and if she has been
unable to stop smoking the doctor will consider prescribing nicotine
patches, gums or lozenges.
Nicotine patches are not indicated for use during pregnancy, but Australian
Divisions General Practice Networks spokeswoman Kate Carnell said: It's
still a damn sight better to give up (with the use of) patches than not give
up at all.
About one in six pregnant women smokes, even though it harms their health
and that of their baby.
The government wants to cut the rate to zero.
Launching the $4.3 million program yesterday, Parliamentary Secretary for
Health Christopher Pyne said pregnant women who smoked were 50 per cent more
likely to have a stillborn baby.
Babies born to smoking mothers weigh 200g less than those born to
non-smokers, and low birthweight is a leading cause of infant death, he
said.
Babies born to smokers are three times more likely to die of sudden infant
death syndrome and four times more likely to develop allergic skin rashes,
high blood pressure and asthma, he said.
A woman who smokes while pregnant is at increased risk of a wide variety of
problems, including ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage and premature labour, Mr
Pyne said.
The latest data shows that 17 per cent of pregnant women smoke.
That is the Australian average daily smoking rate and you would hope
pregnant women would have a lower rate when they know the damage they are
doing, Mr Pyne said. The more cigarettes smoked during pregnancy, the
greater the risk of complications.
The new program is part of a raft of lifestyle prescriptions being issued by
doctors instead of scripts for drugs.
Ms Carnell said doctors had been embracing the lifestyle scripts already on
offer for problems such as obesity.
