Pregnant smokers not getting MD help they need
September 12, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Women's Health
Smoking is a no-no while pregnant, right? Then why don’t some doctors pay more attention to their pregnant patients and their smoking habits?
According to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, although half of women who smoked quit when they found out they were pregnant and began their prenatal health visits, of those who were still smoking, only around 5% quit after they began seeing their doctor. Interestingly, less than 60% said that their doctors encouraged them to quit smoking.
The results were from a survey where women answered questions about their smoking, so it is possible that more – or fewer – doctors asked. This is one of the drawbacks to a study like this.
While on the surface the 5% number may be really low, this could – in my opinion – be because those who haven’t quit smoking by that time are the more hard-core, more addicted smokers. This would make it harder for them to quit and that’s not the doctors’ fault. However, the fact that less than 60% of the doctors mentioned it – that’s a bit frightening, I think.
What do you think?
~~~~
Image: Newscom
Tags: pregnancy blog, pregnant smokers, smokers who are pregnant, quitting smoking while pregnant
