Action Required: Revisiting Better Practices in Smoking Cessation Interventions for Pregnant Girls and Women (2008)

Background •Despite considerable efforts by health care professionals, and an overall reduction in smoking prevalence, it is estimated that approximately 20% to 30% of pregnant women still smoke during pregnancy •To date, smoking cessation interventions to reduce smoking during pregnancy and postpartum have been relatively unsuccessful. Despite the influx of research examining smoking and pregnancy over the last five years, the prevalence of smoking among pregnant and postpartum women has only slightly decreased •Advice to quit smoking by health care providers, is associated with increased smoking cessation attempts in the general population. Also, studies have shown that smoking cessation interventions by providers are associated with increased smoking cessation attempts by patients •The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature to assess how providers engage pregnant smokers in smoking cessation and to examine interventions that target providers’ provision of smoking cessation interventions to pregnant girls and wome