WIC Providers’ Perspectives on Offering Smoking Cessation Interventions

Abstract

WIC providers have time limitations that may necessitate minimal or low-intensity interventions for smoking cessation, but did not know that such approaches are actually effective. WIC providers require more education about the entire issue of smoking cessation in order to become more proactive in their attempts to help pregnant women quit. Training that enhances self-efficacy and understanding of the impact of smoking on mothers, infants, and children should be initiated to motivate staff to intervene. Another strategy to motivate WIC staff in this regard could be tracking clinic outcomes in helping women to quit smoking or prevent relapse.

Barriers to and facilitators of smoking cessation in pregnancy and following childbirth: literature review and qualitative study

“…113,133,[162][163][164][165][166][167][168] The synthesis identified that both the professional role of participants and the organisational context in which they worked could act as either barriers to or facilitators of an individual's ability to provide smoking cessation support to pregnant or postpartum women. Underpinning these factors was an acknowledgement that the association between maternal smoking and social disadvantage was a considerable barrier to addressing and supporting smoking cessation.…”

“…In those circumstances, promoting harm reduction (cutting down) was prominent and still practised. 162,164,165,167 There was less evidence found of promoting cutting down in the interviews we conducted with UK HPs, although some who were not trained smoking cessation advisors still regarded this as acceptable or helpful, or in some cases inevitable, particularly when dealing with women or families living in complex and disadvantaged circumstances.…”

“…There was also recognition in the review studies and interviews that HPs could take a more assertive position, drawing attention to the negative effects of smoking on the baby in pregnancy and regarding the risks of SHS after birth. 133,[162][163][164][165] The systematic review of HPs found that professionals recognised the importance of involving women's partners in smoking cessation advice but this type of engagement was described as difficult -perhaps more difficult in the review studies than in the experiences of partners and SOs interviewed for this study.…”

“…53,112,117,120,123,132 HPs widely understood that, despite their own role in promoting smoking cessation, they were pushing against community or societal ('social determinants') factors that influenced women's smoking and that these factors could often outweigh any attempts they made to help women stop. 113,[164][165][166] Risks of smoking in pregnancy were downplayed through the experience of others who had smoked during pregnancy but had healthy children, and stopping smoking was perceived (particularly in the studies in the systematic review of pregnant women) as severing important social connections. 111,137 The normalcy and commonplace nature of smoking in the local community was also mentioned by our interviewees, both pregnant women and SOs.…”

828 – Smoking cessation in pregnant women with mental disorders: a cohort and nested qualitative study

“…4 Similarly, socioeconomic disadvantage is strongly associated with antenatal depression, 11,12 so it is unsurprising that almost 50% of pregnant smokers have depression or other common mental disorders. 10 Smoking cessation programmes in pregnancy reduce the proportion of women who continue to smoke 13,14 and can impact on birth outcomes [15][16][17] so referral from maternity services is emphasised as an important component of antenatal care in current guidelines. 18 Although there is evidence that cessation rates can be significantly lower in people with mental disorders, 19 there has been no research on how mental disorders in pregnancy modify the effectiveness of the current NHS pathway for smoking cessation interventions.…”