When Alize Sterner enters this world — sometime in the next couple of days, the doctors are saying — she will already have received an amazing gift from her mom. Preparing for the birth of her first child, Noemi (Mimi) Cancel has “kicked the habit.”

After 15 years of tobacco use, Cancel quit smoking about six months ago.

A Titusville resident, Cancel was made aware that by smoking cigarettes she was increasing health risks for her unborn baby. So just after the first of this year, the battle began, and it was no easy fight.

“I’ve had cravings, especially right at first, seeing people smoke around me, smelling it,” she said.

Even the smell of cigarette tobacco, unlighted, would cause her to want a smoke. “I woke up in the middle of the night a lot, and I was eating a lot of candy. It was hard for a while. It took about a month and a half before I felt I could say, ‘This is working.’ ”

Cancel’s success is not hers alone. She’s one of many pregnant women helped by state health officials. The reason for all the attention comes down to some troubling statistics: Across Pennsylvania, 18 percent of pregnant women continue to smoke before their baby is born — and here in northwest Pennsylvania, that number skyrockets to 28 percent.

While that number may be worrisome to anyone who suspects that smoking and pregnancy should not mix, to health officials the staggering local statistic demands they take action. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women who smoke during pregnancy are twice as likely to have health complications that may cause pre-term labor. In fact, babies born to smokers are 30 percent more likely to be born prematurely and/or with lower birth weights, increasing their risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS.

Among those most devoted to the cause is Shannon Eckels of St. Marys, the region’s tobacco control coordinator for the Department of Health. “We’re not quite sure why our numbers here are so high,” she says. “But I think a lot of it is because we’re very rural and have higher poverty levels. In lower socio-economic sectors, you tend to see higher tobacco use.

“Basically, we’ve got to raise awareness. A lot of (pregnant women) don’t realize how harmful this is (to their unborn baby). We have to give them the power they need to quit and then provide some resources along the way.”

For young moms who probably wanted to quit smoking anyway, those resources add to the incentive to give it a shot. The list is impressive:

n Free diapers for your baby, for new moms who stay smoke free;

n Nicotine replacement therapies, free for those who actively participate in the Northwest Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Program;

n Group and individual therapy sessions guided by trained facilitators;

n Around-the-clock telephone support by dialing (800) Quit Now;

n Online links to stop-smoking programs at Determined-ToQuit.com.

The diaper incentive program is what finally swayed Cancel. “The offer of free diapers helped me because I then had another goal, something else to strive for,” she says. But the valuable prize has to be earned in no uncertain terms. The new mom comes in once a month to have the carbon monoxide in her blood monitored. Elevated levels of CO is an indicator of tobacco use, so if the number is low enough, showing the client is still not smoking, they’ll get diapers for free.

To hear of successful carbon monoxide monitoring is especially rewarding for caregivers like Eckels. “It shows that we’re being effective. It means we’re keeping nicotine out of the mother’s system, and keeping second-hand smoke away from the babies after they are born. If you know of someone who’s quit and she’s about to have her baby, that’s very rewarding. And the mom’s healthier, too, which is an added bonus.”

Merrilynn Cushman, a service provider at Titusville Area Hospital where she is the tobacco programs coordinator, has also seen the victories and defeats first-hand, and she, like Eckels, remains optimistic that the high local numbers can be reduced.

Cushman’s role is often one-on-one with the clients. She goes out into the community and meets with pregnant women and tries to get them to quit. And she knows how hard that is, because she went through it herself. How long has she been smoke-free? That’s easy, her son will be 12 years old this year. “I quit more than 12 years ago, after becoming pregnant with my first child.”

Now she shares the message with others, hoping for some success stories along the way. “Ultimately, it’s purely an individual effort; it’s up to the client,” Cushman summarizes. “You have to want to do it, and you have to believe you can do it. After that is established, the serious work can begin.”

Cancel, 29 and a smoker for more than half of her life, is well on her way to becoming another notch on the stop-smoking program’s victory belt. The thought of it makes her think back to “that day.” At age 14 she was visiting with friends at one of their homes. Suddenly, “my best friend’s father was coming into the room, and she knew she would get in trouble. So, she handed the cigarette to me, and I smoked it all.” Calm as could be, she saved the day for her friend but, from that very first puff, Cancel was hooked. “I liked the smell, and it tasted good.” From that day forward, she smoked between eight and 10 cigarettes almost every day — for 15 years.

“I’ve been feeling so much better since I quit. I don’t plan to go back to it at all,” she said last week.

Eckels and Cushman will be doing all they can to help that happen.



Ed Mailliard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at ed@meadvilletribune.com.