Congratulations. You're pregnant. But you still smoke...ugh! What are you going to do? This scenario plays out every day for thousands of women. Most women know that smoking has extremely hazardous effects on their unborn child. They might even know that smoking, while pregnant, increases their risk for bleeding during delivery. But how are they going to stop? The addiction seems too strong despite the motivation found right under their nose.
Many of these women have probably already tried to stop before, but were unsuccessful. So in an effort to protect their baby, they try to stop cold turkey. The last thing they want to do is put some other toxic pharmacutical in their body, so cold turkey is tried. And who knows, maybe this time, they'll beat the addiction without any help.
Well, The Annals of Pharmacotherapy evaluated the safety of nicotine replacement and it's effect on pregnancy outcomes. Forinash and others performed a 44-year literature search to find this answer. Their findings were simple.
The first treatment to be offered pregnant women is behavior modification - that should always be the first attempt. There are obviously, no deleterious side effects to the mom or the baby. This is different than simply quitting cold turkey. This is figuring out what cues trigger smoking, developing new habits/routines and discussing what may be at the root of the addiction. Not to mention an accountability program and help for when the cravings get their toughest. But after that, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) should be the next smoking cessation method offered. The researchers concluded this because NRT has a decreased risk for low birth weight and preterm delivery when compared to continued smoking in pregnant woman. They also state that NRT doesn't seem to increase the malformation risk to the child.
But as always, pregnant women should consult with their physicians prior to beginning any smoking cessation treatment. NRT is a pregnancy category D medication. Here's a good place to look for more on quit smoking aids.
