Campaign focus: pregnant women who smoke

Tue., June 13, 2006

By Kevin Graman kevingr@spokesman.com

With the help of a federal grant, the Washington state Department of Health is hoping to persuade more women to stop smoking while they are pregnant.

Though smoking among pregnant women in the state declined from 14.6 percent in 1998 to 10.2 percent in 2004, the last year for which data are available, Spokane County’s rate is 18.9 percent.

“Our rates have always been higher,” said Maggie Merrill, of the Spokane Regional Health District’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.

Smoking during pregnancy can lead to long-term health problems for infants, including low birth weight, respiratory disease and increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

The county’s high rate could be associated with lower socioeconomic conditions and lower education levels, Merrill said, “Yet there are other counties in Washington with similar demographics and lower rates.”

She said the health district will focus its attention on why the rate is so much higher in Spokane.

“This work is incredibly important,” said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. “We’ve made great strides, yet there are still too many babies born in our state to women who smoked during pregnancy.”

Washington ranks 21st in the nation for rates of women who smoke during pregnancy. The overall rate of women who smoke is 18 percent.

The $265,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant will be used to launch an educational advertising and outreach campaign, the department said.

“We’ll use this grant to get information and help to the women who need it most,” Selecky said.

Prostate awareness

Idaho was one of five states to get a failing grade on the first-ever prostate cancer report card by the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, an advocacy group for patients and their families.

Joining Idaho on the list of states given an F by the coalition were Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Wisconsin. All five states lack laws to force insurance companies to cover the cost of prostate exams, the coalition reported.

In fact, only 28 states have such insurance mandates compared with 49 states that require insurance companies to cover breast cancer screenings, a disease with about the same caseload, said the coalition, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Idaho and Wisconsin also were marked down for having the lowest screening rates.

Among the top-scoring states were California, Connecticut, Kansas and New York. Washington earned a C+, and Oregon a C, according to the coalition, which said those states’ screening rates were starting to improve after having enacted insurance mandates.

Infant massage

The Sacred Heart Women’s Health Center is offering a class for new parents on how to soothe fussy babies in minutes through infant massage.

An infant’s crying can erode a parent’s confidence and lead to marital stress. It also can cause a mother to stop nursing, post partum depression and even abuse.

The class, called “The Happiest Baby,” teaches a step-by-step approach to comforting crying babies. It is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Lamaze and Prevent Child Abuse America.

“Bonding time during these classes increases a parent’s confidence, helping them to know they can do something so simple to make their baby so happy,” instructor Kim Harmson said.

The four-week classes begin at the first of every month. For more information, contact the Sacred Heart’s Women’s Health Center at (509) 474-2400.

Epilepsy walk

The Step into Summer Epilepsy Walk begins Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Northbank Shelter at Riverfront Park.

Funds raised by the event will provide critical services, scholarships and employment workshops for the more than 4,000 people with epilepsy in Spokane County, according to Epilepsy Foundation Northwest.