But most of the women in our study have very complex lives. Many of them are having a really difficult time quitting, with a few saying they're not interested in quitting. There are a few women who think they just can't quit. So I'm not surprised that the cessation rates are relatively low. Another 20-25 percent of the women made progress toward quitting.
Fewer visits are more cost-effective.
It's a balance between finding something that's effective and also something that's efficient enough that it's likely to be adopted into regular health-care practices. In health centers that follow the AHRQ recommendations, a new patient will likely be asked by a medical assistant if she smokes. If she does, the provider will get more information about her smoking habits, encourage her to quit, and then offer her a referral to a smoking cessation program. Alan Magayne-Roshak Pletsch sees nursing staff as the best way to fill in the gap between medical assistants and physicians. Nurses could provide cessation counseling during both home visits and routine prenatal clinic appointments.