Mumsget incentive to help unborn tamariki
An impending pregnancy gave Motueka woman Stacey Russell the incentive she needed to quit smoking.
And with the help of the new Pepi First programme, she hasn’t had a cigarette in almost three months.
The 27-year-old is pregnant with her second child and was one of the first people to pilot the Pepi First programme, an initiative to encourage mothers to quit smoking during pregnancy.
Russell said she began smoking when she was 14 and she had tried to give up the habit several times in the last 13 years.
‘‘I’ve quit quite a few times on my own, 10 months at one point when I had my first child but then I started again once summer came around and I wasn’t pregnant anymore.’’
She joined the programme in early March, as soon as she found out she was pregnant and its been almost three months since she smoked a cigarette.
‘‘I’d never wanted to properly [quit] until now.’’
The habit cost her at least $70 a week and now that she has quit, she doesn’t know how she used to afford it.
She said the support of a quit coach and nicotine-replacement gum had been invaluable in helping her.
Quit coach Sarah McKenzie said the programme was about providing incentives at key milestones throughout pregnancy. It was based on a similar program run by Counties Manukau DHB.
‘‘Using the incentive reduced barriers to women accessing the service, it got more women engaged with the service earlier in their pregnancy.’’
‘‘If you quit before you are 12 weeks pregnant, it is almost as if you never smoked during the pregnancy, the health benefits are so massive.’’
Data from the Ministry of Health Maternity Report from 2014 showed that women under the age of 20, Maori women and women living in deprived areas were most likely to smoke while pregnant.
McKenzie said they wanted to hear from women, as soon as they thought they might be pregnant who wanted to quit smoking.
She said the cold turkey approach was not effective, took a lot of energy and the experience often prevented people from trying to quit later in life.
‘‘Having that coaching and sup- port that is one of the first things is trying to get the addiction side under control, then working with habits and feelings and routines and triggers.’’
To start with, McKenzie would meet with the woman face-to-face each week and keep in contact by phone and through text. A regular breath test was used to confirm that people were no longer smoking.
Once someone reached the one month milestone, McKenzie said they were five times more likely to remain smokefree.
Women who entered the programme and successfully met the milestones could receive vouchers for The Warehouse or Pak n Save.
‘‘The earlier that you engage in the pregnancy the more you can earn because every trimester there is a new amount of money that can be unlocked and that follows through until six weeks postpartum.’’
Nelson Marlborough Health general manager of Maori health and vulnerable populations Ditre Tamatea said Maori and Pasifika smokers were top of mind when it came to designing the new services – especially the Pepi First service for pregnant women
‘‘In terms of reducing inequity, it makes sense to target those with the highest need. Although smoking rates among Maori and Pasifika have steadily declined over the past two decades, they still smoke more than any other ethnicity.
‘‘These services are designed to keep those numbers coming down, and change lives.’’
The Pepi First programme is one of two new stop-smoking services in Nelson Marlborough that aims to give smokers the best chance of quitting.
Tamatea said it was the first incentivised smoking cessation programme in the region.
The Stop Smoking service for all smokers has also been extended and the benefits include one-onone support with a quit coach, home visits and workplace support, and nicotine replacement therapy along with 24/7 support.
The services are a partnership between Nelson Marlborough Health, Kimi Hauroa Wairau, Nelson Bays Primary Health and Te Piki Oranga.
Smokers can refer themselves by emailing smokefree@nmdhb.govt.nz or calling 0800 NO SMOKE, or they can ask their GP, midwife or other health practitioner.