A new study looking at how vaping helps pregnant women quit smoking and stay smoke-free has been published in the British Medical Journal.
The research team from the University of Nottingham, St George’s University London and the University of Stirling conducted a longitudinal study of pregnant women to see if e- cigarettes are associated with a return to smoking after childbirth.
Sophie Orton, Lauren Taylor, Libby Laing, Sarah Lewis, Michael Ussher, Tim Coleman and Sue Cooper say returning to smoking after childbirth “is an important public health issue”.
“E-cigarette use has increased in recent years, and in a contemporary UK pregnancy cohort we investigated factors, including e-cigarette use, associated with return to smoking after childbirth. The team
conducted analyzes of a longitudinal cohort survey with questionnaires. The first questionnaire was completed between 8 and 26 weeks of pregnancy, the second at the end of pregnancy between 34 and 36 weeks and the third and last questionnaire was completed 3 months after delivery. A total of 750 women were recruited from 17 hospitals in England and Scotland in 2017.
“Helping pregnant women quit smokingand staying abstinent over the long term is an important public health issue. In 2019/2020, 12.1% of women in England smoked in early pregnancy1, however around half attempt to quit after conception. Unfortunately, relapses are common, with up to 75% of women starting to smoke again within 12 months of giving birth. Noting
the health problems that smoking causes to both mother and child, the team identified the women most likely to relapse into smoking and point out that no effective interventions are currently being implemented. square.
“vapes have potential for public health benefit because they do not involve the combustion of tobacco, which is the main source of harm from conventional cigarettes. The team notes the Cochrane TAG findings: “
Among non-pregnant smokers, there is moderate certainty that vapes containing nicotine improve quit rates, compared to non-nicotine vaping products or vaping therapy. nicotine replacement”.
They measured vaping success with the response to a series of questions: “The primary outcome was return to smoking at 3 months postpartum using participants’ responses to the question” Which statement best describes your smoking at the moment? “.
The response options were “I don’t smoke at all”, “I smoke occasionally, but not every day”, “I smoke every day, but less than when I was pregnant”, “I smoke every day, about as much as when I was pregnant” and “I smoke every day and I tend to smoke more than when I was pregnant”. Women who reported smoking at least occasionally were considered to have started smoking again.
The research team says this is the first study exploring e-cigarette pods use during pregnancy and postpartum.
They found that vaping helps pregnant women quit smoking and stay tobacco-free within three months of giving birth.
