Smoking Among Low-Income Pregnant Women: An Ethnographic Analysis

¹ Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson
² Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mimin{at}u.arizona.edu.

	Abstract

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of 53 low-income women who were smokers at the onset of pregnancy. Study participants were interviewed during pregnancy to document smoking trajectories and factors contributing to, or undermining, harm reduction and quit attempts. Thirty percent of women quit smoking completely, 43% engaged in sustained harm reduction, and 26% reduced their smoking levels intermittently. Case studies of women are presented to illustrate reasons for quitting, harm reduction practices, and factors influencing relapse and smoking continuation. Women’s motivations to quit are highlighted. Moral identity as a mother was found to be a key motivating factor behind women’s quit attempts. Future programs targeting this population would do well to acknowledge moral identity as an issue and recognize the challenges of quitting for women with limited social support and little control over their immediate environment.

First published on December 15, 2006, doi:10.1177/1090198106290397

Health Education & Behavior 2007;34:748.

A more recent version of this article appeared on October 1, 2007
This version was published on September 18, 2007


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