Smoking still matters (a lot)

September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Throughout the month, our Executive Director, will be highlighting some of the changes coming under Cradle Cincinnati’s new strategic plan. A woman who smokes throughout her pregnancy is nearly 1.5 times more likely to suffer an infant death than a nonsmoker. In fact, smoking plays a contributing role in all three leading causes of infant death in Hamilton County: preterm birth, birth defects and sleep-related deaths. For this reason, smoking continues to be a centerpiece of our collective work.Quitting smoking is extremely hard. As we develop strategies to support women on their quit journey, there are no easy answers. Instead, this work requires a relentless pursuit from everyone who wants to join the infant mortality fight. We cannot give up for one simple reason: tobacco is killing our kids.So, what can be done? Where do we start on a difficult journey?

• Prenatal care providers from across the community are implementing proven, standardized motivational interviewing techniques with the help of a new quit journal designed for moms.
• Cradle Cincinnati is funding 4 new Tobacco Treatment Specialists who will work across health care systems to provide one-on-one support to women who are ready to quit.
• Interact for Health is supporting neighborhood activities that help address root causes like stress while celebrating tobacco-free living.
• Our partners are advocating for new policies that will discourage tobacco use - starting with “Tobacco 21,” new legislation aimed at raising the minimum legal age for cigarette and tobacco sales from 18 to 21 in order to reduce youth tobacco use.
• Cincinnati Children’s will be leading a pioneering study in 2019 to give us the most accurate snapshot ever of local tobacco use during pregnancy.

Cradle Cincinnati will be pursuing several brand new strategies in the next five years. In the midst of that, we cannot lose sight of something that is fundamental to our work – smoking matters a lot if we want to see fewer infant deaths. The good news is, with 5 years of intense focus, our partners have driven down maternal smoking by 19%. Our challenge now is to work together to do even better in the years to come.