Study looks at keeping mums smoke-free

While many women quit smoking during pregnancy to protect their unborn child, around half then take the habit up again after giving birth, and a new study in the USA is looking at how to prevent this. Researchers at the University of North Carolina are trying to find the factors that cause 50% of new Mums to stop smoking for good, in an attempt to try and help those who can't. The study found that new mothers with a live-in partner who took a role in bringing up the baby were the most likely to never smoke again, whereas single mothers or those with less financial resources had a larger chance of relapse.

"In the future we can look at these and other factors in women who quit smoking during pregnancy to assess who is at low or high risk of relapse," said the study's lead author, Carol E Ripley-Moffitt.

"We can then offer more intensive interventions for those at higher risk to address the physical, behavioural and social issues related to relapse."

The researchers interviewed both women who had remained smoke-free and relapsed.

Smoke-free subjects were asked about the benefits they had experienced, how they handle the temptation and how they reward themselves for not smoking, while those who relapsed were asked what situations had caused them to restart the habit and what would be needed to make them stop.