Abstract
Smoking in pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as low birth weight, preterm birth, and perinatal death. Despite widespread public awareness of the deleterious health effects of cigarette smoking, up to a quarter of women in developed countries smoke during their pregnancies. In this hermeneutic phenomenological study, the meaning and experience of smoking in pregnancy were explored. Data were collected through interviews with eight pregnant women from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Four main themes were identified in the participants’ stories, namely living in a smoking world, suddenly finding myself on a moral low road, navigating my own way to a high road, and not preparing for postpartum smoking pitfalls. Smoking was perceived to be salubrious and the participants painted a picture of dealing with smoking in pregnancy as a daunting, lonely endeavor that required life-altering solutions. With a better understanding of what smoking means to pregnant women who smoke, nurses can help these women forge a new and lifelong way to health and wellness.
Highlights
Cigarette smoking in pregnancy is an important, preventable behavior associated with low birth weight, preterm birth, and perinatal death [1]
We identified 4 main themes and 11 subthemes in the women’s stories of smoking in pregnancy
This study contributes to the small body of research on the whole experience of gestational smoking
Summary
Cigarette smoking in pregnancy is an important, preventable behavior associated with low birth weight, preterm birth, and perinatal death [1]. Estimates of gestational smoking range between 6% and 22% in high-income countries, but the burden of smoking in pregnancy is starting to shift from high-income nations to low- and middle-income nations [1] [7]. Prevalence rates of gestational smoking have plateaued and remained high among socially disadvantaged groups, such as indigenous and low-income populations [6]. In Canada, 11% of pregnant women report smoking, but the number climbs to 20% among low-income women [8] and soars to 61% - 82% for Aboriginal women [9]-[11]. The true prevalence of gestational smoking may be higher in spite of extensive efforts to curtail smoking
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