Give It Up For Baby:
A Smoking Cessation Intervention for Pregnant Women in Scotland

Abstract

Tayside is a large region in Scotland (population 400,000), which has significant areas of deprivation concentrated mainly in Dundee (the fourth largest city in Scotland). Throughout Dundee there is a strong correlation between deprivation and smoking.

'Give It Up For Baby' uses financial incentives (grocery vouchers) to encourage pregnant smokers from socially deprived communities to quit smoking. Women who are eligible for the program are identified by midwives, local pharmacists and health visitors, and are recruited if they express a wish to give up smoking. A 'Give It Up For Baby' Development Worker makes personal contact with all women wishing to take part and supports them through the whole process.

As well as receiving an incentive of £12.50 ($17.60 US) a week for every week a pregnant woman demonstrates (through carbon monoxide testing) that she is smoke-free, additional support is also provided, including free Nicotine Replacement Therapy and one-to-one support from a 'Give It Up For Baby' Development Worker, who makes personal contact with all women wishing to take part and supports them through the whole process (including after their babies' birth).

Initial data indicate that 'Give It Up For Baby' has been more successful than previous approaches. By the end of the first year alone, 55 mothers had quit using the program in Dundee, and a total of 140 had quit across the Tayside region. For women who fully engaged with the program, an average payment of about £210 ($306 US) was made. These women attended pharmacies on 322 occasions during the year; 314 carbon monoxide tests showed that they were smoke-free (97.5%). Expenditure indicates a cost per quitter figure of about £1,700 ($2,478 US).