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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Central Valley Health District received a North Dakota Department of Health grant to provide the BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program in the Jamestown area. The grant provides funds to help pregnant women quit tobacco and stay quit after the baby is born.
Julie Hoeckle, the Baby and Me Tobacco Free Program coordinator states, “This is a research-based program that has demonstrated its success in improving the health of newborns. Quitting tobacco can be very difficult and I am pleased to be able to assist pregnant women in their efforts.” The program consists of educational sessions and follow-up visits to provide support after the baby is born.
Women who enroll in the program, quit tobacco and stay quit after the baby is born are eligible for FREE diapers for up to 12 months. The greatest gift a woman can give her baby is a tobacco-free pregnancy and a home and environment free of second and third hand smoke.
This program is made possible through a grant from the North Dakota Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. Their mission is to improve and protect the health of North Dakotans by reducing the negative health and economic consequences of the state’s number-one cause of preventable disease and death – tobacco use.
About 16 percent of pregnant women in North Dakota smoke during their pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy is known to cause birth defects, premature births, underweight babies and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Quitting smoking greatly reduces the health risks to the mother and baby.
Central Valley Health District has been actively working with the Baby and Me program since 2008. Over the six years, we have worked with 66 pregnant women to quit smoking. Fifty of those mothers were smoke free at the time of the birth of their babies, and forty-two remained smoke free 3-months after delivery. Twenty-two of those women successfully completed the program, this means they were smoke free for a full year after the birth of their baby. The Baby and Me Program works with pregnant women providing incentives for the mothers who have completed the four education sessions and test smoke-free in subsequent sessions for 12 months. “I am very proud of these women for their diligence to quit and remain smoke-free. It is very difficult to quit smoking and to remain smoke-free. I encourage any pregnant woman who wants to quit smoking to contact our office to learn more about the Baby and Me Program.”
Contact Julie Hoeckle at Central Valley Health District, 701.252.8130 Ext 110 or jhoeckle@nd.gov . The NDQuits tobacco cessation program is also available for all North Dakotans and includes phone, online and mobile options. Call 1.800.QUIT.NOW or visit www.ndhealth.gov/ndquits for more information.