Artificial Intelligence for Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a revolutionary tool in various healthcare domains, including smoking cessation among pregnant women. Smoking during pregnancy is a significant public health concern, linked to adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Traditional cessation methods have had limited success, necessitating innovative approaches. AI offers personalized interventions, predictive analytics, and real-time support, enhancing the effectiveness of smoking cessation programs. This editorial explores the potential of AI in transforming smoking cessation efforts for pregnant women, highlighting its benefits, challenges, and future prospects. By integrating AI into healthcare strategies, we can improve maternal and fetal health outcomes and contribute to the broader public health goal of reducing smoking rates among expectant mothers.

Barriers to Smoking Cessation and Characteristics of Pregnant Smokers in Greece.

Objectives: Nicotine addiction and the inability of a large part of pregnant smokers to quit is one of the main preventable causes of morbidity and mortality during the perinatal period. The aim of this study is to investigate nicotine dependence and overall smoking habits of pregnant smokers and to possibly correlate them with smokers' social and demographic characteristics. Materials and methods: One hundred and fourteen pregnant smokers answered an electronic questionnaire consisting of 59 questions, which was divided into six sections. The questionnaires were filled out by participants from many regions of Greece and Cyprus. Results:Before their pregnancy, women smoked 19 cigarettes per day on average, while during their pregnancy they dropped to eight cigarettes per day; 65.8% of respondents stated that their husband smoked, while 58.8% answered that they had been exposed to secondhand smoke; 13.2% of pregnant smokers stated that they had had depression at some point in their lives and 14.9% reported having undergone domestic violence; 55.3% of respondents acknowledged that smoking was responsible for a variety of adverse effects to the fetus; and 97.4% of pregnant women did not follow a smoking cessation counseling program, compared to just 2.6% who did. Conclusions:The pregnant smokers in our study did not have appropriate information about the available smoking cessation services, which were not generally considered to be useful for them, and consequently they did not utilize cessation assistance. The resistance towards quitting smoking, which was observed in the sample, may also be attributed to the lack of specialized smoking cessation services in maternity hospitals in Greece.

Smoking cessation in pregnancy: An update for maternity care practitioners.

INTRODUCTION: This paper provides an up-to-date summary of the effects of smoking in pregnancy as well as challenges and best practices for supporting smoking cessation in maternity care settings. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative review of published peer reviewed and grey literature. RESULTS: There is strong evidence of the effects of maternal tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure on adverse pregnancy outcomes. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal deaths, and evidence has shown that health effects extend into childhood. Women who smoke should be supported with quitting as early as possible in pregnancy and there are benefits of quitting before the 15th week of pregnancy. There are a variety of factors that are associated with tobacco use in pregnancy (socioeconomic status, nicotine addiction, unsupportive partner, stress, mental health illness etc.). Clinical-trial evidence has found counseling, when delivered in sufficient intensity, significantly increases cessation rates among pregnant women. There is evidence that the use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) may increase cessation rates, and, relative to continued smoking, the use of NRT is considered safer than continued smoking. The majority of women who smoke during pregnancy will require support throughout their pregnancy, delivered either by a trained maternity care provider or via referral to a specialized hospital or community quit-smoking service. The 5As (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) approach is recommended for organizing screening and treatment in maternity care settings. Additionally, supporting smoking cessation in the postpartum period should also be a priority as relapse rates are high. CONCLUSIONS: There have been several recent updates to clinical practice regarding the treatment of tobacco use in pregnancy. It is important for the latest guidance to be put into practice, in all maternity care settings, in order to decrease rates of smoking in pregnancy and improve pregnancy outcomes.

Exposure to active and passive smoking among Greek pregnant women.

BACKGROUND: Active smoking and exposure to passive smoke are responsible for numerous adverse pregnancy outcomes for women and their infants. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions, attitudes, patterns of personal tobacco use and exposure to environmental smoke among a sample of pregnant women in Greece. METHOD: A cross sectional survey was undertaken of 300 women identified from the perinatal care records of the Maternity Departments of two hospitals in Athens between February 2013 and May 2013. Data on active and passive maternal smoking status in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy, fetal and neonatal tobacco related complications, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke during pregnancy, quit attempts, behaviors towards avoiding passive smoking and beliefs towards smoking cessation during pregnancy were collected using self-administered questionnaires on the 3rd postnatal day. Women also completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). RESULTS: Of 300 women recruited to the study 48 % reported tobacco use during the first trimester of pregnancy. Amongst participants who were tobacco users, 83.3 % reported making an attempt to quit but less than half (45.1 %) were successful. Among women who continued to smoke during pregnancy the majority (55.8 %) reported that they felt unable to quit, and 9.3 % reported that they considered smoking cessation was not an important health issue for them. Participants who continued to smoke during pregnancy were more likely to report fetal (χ2 = 11.41; df = 5; p < 0.05) and newborn complications (χ2 = 6.41; df = 2; p < 0.05), including preterm birth and low birth weight. Participants who reported that their partners were smokers were more likely to smoke throughout their pregnancy (χ2 = 14.62; df = 1; p < 0.001). High rates of second-hand smoke exposure were reported among both smoking and non-smoking women. Pregnant smokers had significantly higher levels of postnatal depressive and anxiety symptomatology, as measured using the EPDS, than non-smokers. CONCLUSION: Our data supports the importance of ensuring that pregnant women, their partners and close relatives are educated on the health risks of active and passive smoking and how these could have an adverse effect to their fetus and infants, as well as the pregnant women themselves.