Undergraduate Research Targets Pregnant Smokers

Pregnancy can be an opportune time for women to become non-smokers and, with support, continue the new lifestyle behavior.

Faculty and students in Valpo’s College of Nursing are addressing this issue in a new research study titled “Supporting Underserved Pregnant Women Through a Smoking Cessation Program.” The project, funded by a two-year $7,500 grant from Wheat Ridge Ministries, focuses on clients at a community health center in Northwest Indiana.

This past April, Valpo student researchers, under the supervision of faculty members Theresa Kessler and Elise Alverson ’96 F.N.P., began distributing questionnaires to clients of North Shore Community Health Center in Portage, Ind., to determine smoking history and preference to stop smoking.

Pregnant women who indicated a willingness to quit smoking were given a smoking cessation quit kit and booklet.

“Pregnant women can’t wear the ‘patch,’ or take medications to help them quit smoking, so the interventions consist of behavior modification education and support groups,” Alverson says.

Students will evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions, support the behavioral change and help to prevent a smoking relapse.

“Students will work with the women not only at the center, but also will call them at their homes to facilitate the behavior change,” Kessler says.

“The goal is to monitor the women during their pregnancy and after delivery for a total of 18 months,” Alverson says. “To prevent a relapse, we also are educating them about the dangers of secondhand smoke to their babies and other children in the home. It is a big risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome and child ear infections.”