Tailoring a NICU-Based Tobacco Treatment Program for Mothers Who Are Dependent on Opioids

Abstract

Objective: To collect formative information to design a tailored tobacco treatment intervention for women with newborns treated or evaluated for neonatal abstinence syndrome and to explore current tobacco use behaviors and facilitators and barriers to smoking cessation.

Design: Qualitative descriptive study.

Setting: An academic medical center in the southern United States.

Participants: Mothers (N = 11) of newborns who were treated or evaluated for neonatal abstinence syndrome at birth within the preceding 3 months. Women recruited were older than 18 years and reported opioid dependence and smoking during pregnancy.

Methods: Participants took part in semistructured individual interviews that lasted approximately 1 hour. Interviews were professionally transcribed and analyzed in MAXQDA using content analysis.

Results: Five themes emerged from the data: Strategizing to Reduce Risk, Desire to Quit Smoking in the Future, Holding on to Smoking While Working Through Recovery, Feeling Judged by Nurses, and Feeling Supported and Empowered by Nurses. Participants reported that they to reduce risk to their newborns by avoiding second- and thirdhand smoke exposure. Participants wanted to stop smoking but reported many barriers, including multiple life stressors compounded by their newborns' extended stays in the hospital. However, most participants described overall positive experiences and the support of health care providers.

Conclusion: Holistic tobacco treatment programs that incorporate stress relief and social support and are led by trusted health care providers have the potential to be effective to reduce smoking in new mothers with histories of opioid dependence disorders and smoking and whose newborns are in the NICU.

Keywords: NICU; neonatal intensive care unit; opioid dependence; tobacco treatment.