Health Department program aims to help pregnant women quit tobacco
Carter Ostermiller
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Baby & Me Tobacco Free (BMTF) program provided by the St. Joseph Health Department aims to help future and postpartum mothers fight tobacco addiction.
Women must attend four individualized prenatal counseling sessions, each lasting 30 to 45 minutes.
“It’s a conversation between us. We talk about what their triggers might be, where they smoke the most, things like that,” said Kay Smith, a Health Educator at the Health Department. “Then we go through different ways to help them stop that,” said Smith.
By their third visit, patients must quit smoking and stay tobacco-free during their pregnancy.
Women will attend six-monthly postpartum counseling maintenance sessions and must test tobacco-free during their visits.
BMTF will also offer monetary incentives for program dedication, such as gift card awards.
For example, participants will receive a $50 gift card to purchase items in the baby department after completing the third and fourth prenatal visits and all six postpartum visits, provided they test tobacco-free.
Smith urges pregnant women who smoke to consider the program to not only help the baby, but also themselves.
Smoking while pregnant can lead to health defects and even death for the baby.
To sign up for the counseling program, visit the St. Joseph, Missouri website’s Baby and Me Tobacco Free (BMTF) and call or email the St. Joseph Health Department.