KCHD offers counseling and free diapers to pregnant women who want to quit smoking
The new year often comes with resolutions, many of them centered around being healthier. But, when it comes to your health and the health of your family, why wait for the new year?
For pregnant women, quitting smoking is the single most important thing you can do for your health and the health of your baby. Mothers who smoke are more likely to deliver premature babies with low birth weight. Babies who are exposed to cigarette smoke are also more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Quitting isn’t easy, but the benefits for your baby are numerous. The Knox County Health Department has an incentive-based, free resource called “Baby & Me – Tobacco Free Program” to help pregnant women stop smoking. This program offers private counseling sessions and free diapers to expectant mothers who want to quit smoking.
Here’s how the program works:
- Enroll in the Baby & Me – Tobacco Free Program
- Attend four prenatal “Quit Smoking” sessions and be eligible to receive a $25 diaper voucher at prenatal sessions 3 and 4
- Quit smoking and remain smoke-free during and after your pregnancy
- Stay tobacco free after your baby is born and receive a monthly $25 diaper voucher for up to 12 months.
It’s also important to make sure that babies are not exposed to secondhand smoke. That’s why the Baby & Me – Tobacco Free Program also allows a smoker who lives in the same household to enroll in the program. This will result in an additional monthly $25 diaper voucher for up to 12 months, totaling another $300 in diapers.
For more information and to enroll, reach out to Debra Lane at 865-215-5394 or debra.lane@knoxcounty.org.
Kelsey Leyrer is division director of communications for the Knox County Health Department.