[E-cigarettes - a pitfall in rewarding smoking cessation during pregnancy?]

The pilot project, entitled "Rewards for Smoking Cessation during Pregnancy" is testing an intervention involving rewards and psychosocial support for women who smoke from the 15^th week of pregnancy onwards. A reward of € 25 is given if carbon monoxide in the exhaled air is found to be at or below 4 parts per million on two days of the week. However, the case study of Ms T. shows that CO is not suitable for validating self-reported data, as there is a risk of switching to tobacco and nicotine products without combustion, such as e-cigarettes. In the context of alternative methodologies, detecting cotinine, a nicotine breakdown product, in saliva or urine is a viable option. However, research is needed to establish the extent to which these methods are accepted by those affected by it, as well as by those who use it. Updating the methods used to verify self-reported smoking habits during pregnancy, as well as in the context of smoking cessation in general, is essential in order to keep up with new developments in the field. This is necessary to avoid creating false incentives, as we can see from the case of Ms T., and to ensure reliable monitoring of smoking status during smoking cessation.