Pregnant Māori Smokers’ Perception of Cessation Support and How It Can Be More Helpful

This study aimed to investigate the perception of smoking cessation services and products by pregnant Maori (New Zealand's Indigenous people) smokers and identify how these can be improved. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 60 pregnant Maori smokers. Most of the women (82%) had been advised to stop smoking, but few (21%) felt influenced by the advice. In addition, the women in this study felt that health provider support needed to be more encouraging, understanding and more readily available. Many (78%) had come across smokefree pamphlets, but few had read them. Only four women had been given a booklet specifically aimed at pregnant Maori women. Several women thought that the promotion of smokefree pregnancies needed to be aimed at the whole whanau (extended family). The main conclusions were that motivation to quit could be enhanced by delivery of a clear, consistent and repeated message from multiple sources, backed up with effective, supportive and encouraging services and education resources about risks and smoking cessation options. Primary health care interventions delivering a range of services need to be flexible - for example, by visiting pregnant women in their home - and need to target the whole expectant whanau, instead of focusing on pregnant women in isolation.

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