EVALUATION OF A SMOKING CESSATION INTERVENTION FOR PREGNANT-WOMEN IN AN URBAN PRENATAL CLINIC

A smoking cessation and relapse prevention intervention was tested in an urban, prenatal clinic serving predominantly low-income, African-Am erican women. At their first prenatal visit, 391 smokers were randomly assigned to an experimental (E) group to receive usual clinic informa tion plus a prenatal and postpartum intervention or to a control (C) g roup to receive only usual clinic information. The intervention consis ted of individual skills instruction and counseling by a peer health c ounselor on the use of a self-help cessation guide and routine clinic reinforcement. Among the E group (n = 193), 6.2% were cotinine-confirm ed quitters at third trimester and among the C group (n = 198) the qui t rate was 5.6%. Quitters were light smokers at entry into prenatal ca re. Many had tried to quit smoking at least once prior to pregnancy.