Protecting the Vulnerable: The Importance of Effective Parental Tobacco-Dependence Treatment During Prenatal and Newborn Care

Tobacco use among pregnant women, as well as second- and third-hand smoke exposure of their infants, translates into the startling fact that more than one third of American children live with at least one parent who smokes cigarettes daily. Maternal smoking or second-hand smoke exposure during pregnancy is deleterious to the mother's health and contributes to prematurity, low birth-weight infants, and increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and recurrent wheezing during the first year of life. Pregnant women who stop tobacco use during pregnancy are at high risk for postpartum relapse frequently associated with a partner who smokes tobacco, stress, poverty, and lack of social and medical support to remain tobacco free. Enhanced efforts to identify and support pregnant women who smoke, and to implement strategies to prevent exposure of their fetus and newborn to the hazards of tobacco-smoke exposure, are paramount in our public health efforts to eliminate health disparities in the United Stat...