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TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. (WOMENSENEWS)--A coalition of women leaders,
including Columba Bush, spouse of the governor of
Florida and Jacalyn Leavitt, spouse of the governor of
Utah, has launched a new campaign aimed at highlighting
the dangers of smoking during pregnancy.
"More women are making the right choice and are not
smoking during pregnancy, yet too many women--almost a
half million in 1999--smoked while pregnant," said Dr.
Jeffrey P. Koplan, director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. "The best advice we can give all
women is to begin their pregnancies as healthy
non-smokers."
The new "Great Start" campaign includes television ads
featuring Bush informing viewers about the health risks
of smoking during pregnancy and encouraging pregnant
women to call a toll free Quitline for help. The ad
began airing in Tallahassee and Miami in December and
will begin running nationwide this month.
"Although many mothers want to make the healthy choice
and quit smoking during their pregnancy, many women
choose not to," Bush said. "Smoking during pregnancy
threatens the health of mothers and babies in Florida
and across the nation, but hopefully through this
campaign someone will listen to our message to bring
their children into the world healthy."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, at least 12 percent of all pregnant women
smoke during their pregnancy. Mothers who smoke tend to
have infants that weigh less and are less likely to live
through their first year. Although the number of women
smoking during pregnancy has actually dropped 33 percent
between 1990 and 1999, not all groups are cutting back
equally.
On August 28, 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reported that "The greatest success in
reducing smoking was for women in their late twenties
and early thirties, where there was over a 40 percent
drop since 1990. . .Teenagers were more likely than
women of any other age to smoke while pregnant. After
experiencing a dramatic 20-percent decline in the first
part of the decade, smoking rates among pregnant
teenagers--unlike women of all other ages--increased by
5 percent from 1994 to 1999. The highest rate in 1999
(19 percent) was for women 18-19 years of age." Smoking
While Pregnant Places Significant Stress on Mother's
Health -
More than the fetus is harmed when a pregnant woman
smokes. Being pregnant puts stress on the lungs and
circulatory system, perhaps exacerbating damage caused
by smoking. In 1987, lung cancer surpassed breast cancer
to become the leading cause of cancer death among U.S.
women, according to a 2001 report by the U.S. Surgeon
General. In 2000, about 27,000 more women died of lung
cancer (67,600) than breast cancer (40,800). Smoking
also is linked to increases in cervical cancer,
decreased bone density, hip fractures and arthritis,
earlier onset of menopause and coronary heart disease.
Women who smoked during pregnancy also were more likely
to have a low birthweight infant compared to women who
did not smoke, the federally funded Centers for Disease
Control reported. The center tracks smoking rates among
pregnant women because of the serious consequences to
the fetus, such as retarding its growth. Higher infant
mortality rates have also been linked to maternal
smoking.
The campaign got underway at the same time as the
publication of a new study that found that a genetic
susceptibility makes some women who smoke during
pregnancy at higher risk for giving birth to
low-birth-weight infants weighing 5 pounds 8 ounces or
less.
The study, published on Wednesday in The Journal of the
American Medical Association, found that some women with
certain genotypes are more susceptible to the harmful
effects of cigarette smoke. Infants born to women who
smoked while they were pregnant weighed 13.3 ounces less
than the mid-point size of all infants born. Depending
on their genotype, some women smokers gave birth to
infants that weighed 2 pounds, 12 ounces less than the
midpoint weight.
"Mothers are far more likely to have healthier babies
when they make the smart decision not to smoke during
pregnancy," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G.
Thompson said. "While the overall trend is encouraging,
it's clear that we must do more to ensure young women
understand smoking is a real health risk for them and
for their children."
In addition to the problems associated with low
birthweight, infants born to mothers who smoke are at
risk for other problems, according the American Legacy
Foundation. Smoking during pregnancy or exposing infants
or young children to secondhand smoke may contribute to
such health problems as asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis,
brain damage, and hearing problems. Parental smoking has
also been linked to behavioral problems and increases
the risk for fire-related injuries. Smoking during
pregnancy also may also be related to about 1,000 cases
of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome each year nationally.
The U. S ranks 26th in the world in infant mortality,
according to Cheryl Healton, president and CEO of the
American Legacy Foundation.
As part of the "Great Start" campaign, the first
national telephone 24-hour "Quitline" offers pregnant
smokers free counseling sessions to help them stop
smoking. The Quitline can be reached toll free at
1-866-66-START. Pregnant smokers can call the Great
Start Quitline to receive free telephone counseling
sessions with a counselor especially trained to help
pregnant smokers quit. Spanish-language assistance is
also available. The Quitline is sponsored by the
American Legacy Foundation and managed by the American
Cancer Society.
"The Great Start campaign is vitally important," Utah's
Leavitt said. "It will bring new visibility to a serious
health problem that hasn't received the attention it
deserves. We believe we can motivate pregnant women to
take the first step toward a healthier family."
Nancy Cook Lauer is a journalist covering state
government in Tallahassee, Fla. She recently won a first
place award from the national Association of Capital
Reporters - and Editors.
For more information:
The Great Start Program:
http://www.americanlegacy.org/greatstart
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Smoke-free Families:
http://www.smokefreefamilies.org/
Columba Bush:
http://www.myflorida.com/myflorida/governorsoffice/firstlady/index.html
"Columba Bush Helps Launch the American Legacy
Foundation
'Great Start' Campaign to Help Pregnant Women Stop Smoking":
http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/eog_new/eog/library/releases/2001/
december/anti_smoke-12-03-01.html
Jacalyn S. Leavitt: -
http://www.governor.state.ut.us/firstlady/default.htm
March of Dimes Defects Foundation - "Genes in women who
smoke
linked to prematurity, low birthweight in their babies":
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-01/modb-giw010802.php
The Journal of the American Medical Association -
Maternal Cigarette
Smoking, Metabolic Gene Polymorphism, and Infant Birth
Weight -
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n2/rfull/joc10264.html
CNN.com/Health - Study finds genes, smoking affect
birthweight -
http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/parenting/01/09/
smoking.birthweight.reut/index.html
Center for Disease Control and Prevention -
Tabacco and Information Source(TIPS) - Facts on Women
and Tobacco:
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/adults_prev/womenfac.htm
"Smoking During Pregnancy--Rates Drop Steadily in the
1990's, but
among Teen Mothers Progress Has Stalled":
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/01news/smokpreg.htm
Press Release, August 28, 2001:
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r010828.htm
Women and Smoking - A Report of the Surgeon General-2001
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/
sgr_forwomen/ataglance.htm#The%20Trends:
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Copyright 2001 Women's Enews.
www.womensenews.org
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