Women who quit smoking while pregnant are less motivated to stay non-smokers after giving birth if they believe that smoking will help them maintain their weight, found a recent study. Researchers interviewed 119 women in their third trimesters of pregnancy who had quit smoking when becoming pregnant. Of those women, 77 were motivated to stay non-smokers after giving birth; the women who were most confident that they could maintain their weight without smoking were the ones who ranked most motivated to remain non-smokers.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, only measured the women’s motivation to remain smoke-free. It did not follow the participant’s ability to follow through with her aspirations.

“One important thing is (that) motivation to do something is not actually doing something,” said Dr. Michele Levin, the principal investigator and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Levin said follow-up research will compare each woman’s level of motivation with their level of success.

The study suggests that because weight concerns are connected to women’s ability to quit smoking, programs designed for new mothers to maintain their smoke-free lifestyles must address techniques for weight control.

The findings are crucial to helping new mothers quit smoking, said Dr. Deborah Moss, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and director of Clean Air Plus, an organization dedicated to reducing tobacco use among parents.

“It really tries to understand the specific motivation factors for women in terms of staying quit,” said Moss about the study.

“A women’s anticipation of what she intends to do is often different,” said Moss, especially with pregnant women. “Women, when they are pregnant, seem acutely concerned about various things they eat or drink. Situations change tremendously after babies are born,” she said.

The 42 women who were determined to be unmotivated were similar in age, race and nicotine dependence.

Four months after giving birth 50 percent of women who quit while pregnant will resume smoking, according to previous research cited in this study. Six months after giving birth 60 percent to 70 percent of women will become smokers again.(UPI)