Grant expands effort to fight tobacco addiction during pregnancy

health pregnancy - smoking cessation grant

Efforts to help safeguard the health of pregnant women and new mothers has received support, thanks to funding for a quit-smoking program.

A $1M grant from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health's Wisconsin Partnership Program to First Breath Families in partnership with the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW CTRI) will expand efforts by the Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation (WWHF) to fight and prevent tobacco addiction for pregnant and postpartum women.

First Breath is a free, statewide program and helps pregnant and postpartum women and their families quit smoking. The program also offers resources to health care providers such as referral forms, a training packet, and a 45-minute-long online training program.

"We’re looking forward to supporting WWHF in this important endeavor...Its value, in terms of ensuring mothers and babies are healthy, cannot be overstated," said Bruce Christiansen, PhD, senior scientist, General Internal Medicine and UW CTRI.

The WWHF is a non-profit organization that offers programs throughout the state focused on fighting major causes of morbidity and mortality for women in Wisconsin, including tobacco use.

Through the support of this grant, the First Breath Families team will collaborate with local agencies that serve pregnant and postpartum women and their families, provide statewide access to local WWHF Quit Coaches, and develop participant-informed services.

By reaching, serving and engaging with high-risk populations, the project aims to reduce health inequities and improve health for women, infants, children and families in Wisconsin.

"Our team is so passionate about this work, and has years of experience helping pregnant and postpartum women quit smoking. By including other family members who also smoke, we have a significant impact on their success, and increase the number of children who grow up in smoke-free homes," said Lisa Khalil, operations director, WWHF.

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Photo caption: In this file photo from Jan. 22, 2010, Krystal Jones, shown with her 4-month-old son, Damani, talks with Melissa Rader, a nurse with the City of Milwaukee Health Department, while meeting in Jones' family's Milwaukee home. The visit was enabled by another program funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program called the Nurse Family Partnership. Credit: Jeff Miller/University of Wisconsin

Robyn Perrin, PhD