Predictors of pregnant quitters' intention to return to smoking postpartum

Although many pregnant women quit smoking, most return to smoking postpartum. Returning to smoking is strongly related to women's stated intention about smoking during pregnancy. We examined factors related to women's intention to return to smoking to improve intervention trials.

We report cross-sectional baseline data from a randomized controlled trial to prevent postpartum return to smoking. Women (n = 382; 98% consent rate) were English-speaking women who smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes and at least 5 cigarettes a day prior to becoming pregnant. We fit logistic regression models to test whether women's intention to return to smoking was associated with demographic and smoking factors such as race, parity, and smoker self-identity.

Forty-three percent of women had a strong intention of returning to smoking. Factors independently associated with intending to return to smoking were: stating they did not want to be currently pregnant (OR = 2.1, CI = 1.1-3.9), reporting being abstinent for fewer days (OR = 0.8, CI = 0.7-0.9), being less concerned about the harmful effects of smoking to themselves (OR = 1.6, CI = 0.9-2.8), viewing quit as temporary (OR = 2.1, CI = 1.2-3.6), and self-identifying selves as smokers (OR = 8.7, CI = 5.0-15.2).

Although some factors related to intention to return to smoking were unchangeable, it might be possible to attempt to change women's attribution of why they quit to be more permanent and to have them change their self-identity to be a "nonsmoker" from a "smoker who is not currently smoking." Helping women have stronger intentions to stay quit could promote less return to smoking postpartum.