Here women who have smoked during pregnancy talk about the challenges of quitting and what helped them quit. Their comments were made in focus groups held across Canada. Here is what women say about:

Reasons women smoke
Reasons for quitting
Tips to help you quit
Talking to your health care provider

Reasons women smoke

• To control and deal with stress, anger, anxiety or depression.
• It’s a comforting ritual that provides a space and time for oneself.
• To relieve boredom.
• The taste, smell and sensation that smoking provides.
• Smoking is an addiction that is difficult to break.
• To manage withdrawal from other substances such as heroin, cocaine and alcohol.
• To enjoy certain activities (e.g. with a morning coffee or after a meal).
• To decrease their appetite and control their weight.

“It’s really [a] harsh habit though, because you do it after doing anything. Like you get ready for something, you smoke. You have a bath, you smoke after. You have coffee, you smoke, and when you first wake up you’re agitated to have your cigarette of the day anyways…”

“…[smoking] calms your nerves and stuff from having an anxiety or a panic attack or something. You know, go and have a cigarette and you know it could be all in your head, but I know it seems like the panic and anxiety goes away.”

“I don’t know, it makes me think about a peanut butter and jelly, like a coffee and cigarette…”

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Reasons for Quitting

• Smoking makes it more difficult to breathe, saps your energy and increases your chances of a range of diseases.
• Smoking during pregnancy causes harm to the fetus.
• Being smoke-free helps you to be a healthy role model for your children.
• Smoking smells and stains your teeth.
• Smoking is an expensive addiction.
• Restrictions on where you can smoke are challenging.
• Pressure from a partner, family and friends sometimes help women to quit.
• Many women have lost loved ones from the ill effects of smoking.

“I haven’t quit smoking yet but I really want to right now because my son tells me, ‘Mummy, you’re going to die from it’, and he’s only four and a half, because he sees it on commercials on TV that smoke kills.”

“One reason we decided to quit smoking is because my daughter is two now and she’s to that point where she parrots and mocks everything we do. We catch her walking around blowing out, like she’s copying us blowing out cigarette smoke. Or she’s gotten a hold of packages of cigarettes and pulled them out, and I actually caught her eating one, one time.”

“Money is a big thing. I mean, like you know, if you’re on a low income or you don’t make much at work and your partner’s not a millionaire, spending nine bucks every day or every other day for cigarettes is, you know what I mean, a lot of money.”

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Tips to help you quit smoking

• Seek the help of family and friends to create a smoke-free environment.
• Being in smoke-free surroundings makes it easier for you not to smoke.
• Ask your partner to quit with you, or not to smoke in your presence. Women who live with a partner who smokes find it harder to quit.
• Find non-judgmental support from partners and family members, as this makes quitting easier.
• Recognize that smoking is a powerful addiction and it is important to get help. Get professional advice about medication and counseling programs that can help you to quit and deal with withdrawal.
• Find alternative ways of dealing with stress, anxiety and anger. For example, try breathing exercises, meditation, physical activities or get counseling.
• Proper nutrition and exercise can help reduce withdrawal symptoms and help you to manage your weight.
• Get busy. Occupy yourself with other activities to relieve boredom. You might even try chewing gum to replace the habit of smoking.

“My boyfriend’s trying to quit. He wants to be able to quit before the baby comes, and he smokes outside, which is good. He tries to get other people, like my grandma, to go outside with him when he’s over at my place”

“I think eating proper and exercising proper and things, getting stuff done, keeping yourself busy and occupied and stuff will probably help…they say if you eat proper and getting the proper exercise and, you know, vitamins and stuff proper (it helps).”

“I think the only reason my husband quit is because I wanted to, for my son…He said, ‘okay, well I’ll do it with you so that it’s not so hard for both of us to do it’.”

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Talking to your health care provider

• Smoking is an addiction. Seek help from your health care provider who is trained to help you overcome the addiction.
• Don’t feel guilty or embarrassed to tell your health care providers that you smoke. Their job is to work with you.
• Know that quitting anytime during pregnancy is positive. It is never too late to seek help.
• If you’re not sure where to begin, websites such as Pregnets and STARSS (Start Thinking About Reducing Secondhand Smoke) offer help on how to talk your provider. Some websites also have online community support groups.
• Click on the RESOURCES FOR WOMEN link for more information and helpful tools to help you quit.