Resource Center: pregnant

Smoking during or after pregnancy has been linked to one in 10 infant deaths. Each year about 426,000 American women smoke during pregnancy. Many of these women want to quit and would if they got help. Great Start featured: * A toll-free Quit Line (1-866-66-START), providing free counseling to pregnant smokers. * An educational booklet, developed by Smoke-Free Families, a program supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that works to improve smoking cessation rates during pregnancy. (From their website)

This brochure (en Español) gives smokers and other tobacco users reasons for quitting tobacco. It also describes ways to quit tobacco, such as a combination of setting a quit date, getting support, and taking medication.

Ms. Shields speaks on the subject of genetic counseling in pregnant women.

The American Academy of Pediatrics endorses the US Public Health Service (USPHS) recommendation that all women capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 mg of folic acid daily to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs). Studies have demonstrated that periconceptional folic acid supplementation can prevent 50% or more of NTDs such as spina bifida and anencephaly. For women who have previously had an NTD-affected pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends increasing the intake of folic acid to 4000 mg per day beginning at least 1 month before conception and continuing through the first trimester. Implementation of these recommendations is essential for the primary prevention of these serious and disabling birth defects. Because fewer than 1 in 3 women consume the amount of folic acid recommended by the USPHS, the Academy notes that the prevention of NTDs depends on an urgent and effective campaign to close this prevention gap. (From Their Website)

This web page provides key facts and statistics about smoking among women and smoking during pregnancy

Recommendations for the treatment and care of pregnant women with alcohol and/or other drug use problems

General facts and information on the effect smoking has on babies born to mothers who smoke.

Information about alcohol and your pregnancy

Statement on folic acid: fortification and supplementation

A list of items detailing how smoking effects reproductive health.