Campaign aids women in quitting cigarettes.

Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

The best way to prevent illness and death among mother and infants during pregnancy is to get women to quit smoking, public health officials say.

To that end, Lane County Public Health officials said they'll use a $100,000 grant they've received to help pregnant and postpartum women quit smoking for good.

The money will pay for "Quitting for Keeps," a smoking cessation program for women who get services from Lane County's Women, Infants and Children's program, which serves 42 percent of pregnant women in the county.

Lane County officials say the county's overall rate of smoking during pregnancy has risen significantly since 2001, and at 15.6 percent is higher than the statewide rate of 12.6 percent.

Women who smoke during pregnancy increase their risk of complications and infant low birth weight. Infants and children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome, acute lower respiratory infections, ear infections and asthma attacks.

The grant will be used to put in place a program called the Three A's, based on research by the Oregon Research Institute. The Three A's stand for ask, advise and arrange.

When pregnant and postpartum women come to the WIC office at Seventh Avenue and Garfield Street, counselors will ask them if they use tobacco, advise them how to quit or prevent a relapse, and arrange for them to get services they need to quit - and not start again, said Laura Hammond, the county's tobacco prevention education program coordinator.

About 50 percent of women who smoke are able to quit while pregnant, but about 80 percent of those relapse in the first year after giving birth, she said. "We want to focus on those women who have already succeeded in quitting," she said.

The grant was awarded by the American Legacy Foundation.