Get help quitting tobacco

Medicaid offers a free program to help pregnant women quit smoking, including vaping. If you are pregnant and smoke or vape, please call a Health Program Representative (HPR) at 1-866-608-9422 or email hpr@utah.gov.

The Utah Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW ) can also help. The Quitline has a special program that is free for pregnant and postpartum women, which includes:

• Up to nine calls with a specially-trained female coach (five calls before delivery and four after).
• Incentives for each call, including $10 cash card for the first five calls, $20 cash card for last four calls.
• Up to 12 weeks of the nicotine patch, gum, or lozenge (with a doctor’s approval).
• Tailored and supportive text messages.

Have a healthy baby

Quitting smoking before you give birth will give your baby these benefits:

• Lower risk of being born too early.
• Lower risk of being born with birth defects, like cleft lip or cleft palate.
• Higher chance of having a healthy birth weight (more than 5.5 pounds) and growing on track.
• More likely to come home from the hospital with you. Babies who are too small or who need care for health problems may need to stay in the hospital until they are healthy enough to go home.
• Increased chance of their lungs developing well.
• More likely to have normal brain development before birth and through early childhood.
• Less likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

What about e-cigarettes (vaping)?

E-cigarettes should not be used during pregnancy. This is because e-cigarettes usually contain nicotine, which can hurt pregnant women and their babies. Nicotine is addictive and can damage a developing baby’s brain and lungs. E-cigarettes may also contain other substances that are harmful to a developing baby, like heavy metals, flavorings, and cancer-causing chemicals.

There is little evidence that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking. Quitting all forms of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, is best for you and your baby.

Staying smoke free after baby

Once you bring your baby home, it’s just as important to stay smoke free and protect your baby from cigarettes or secondhand smoke. Babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are more likely to have certain health problems or die from SIDS.

Protect your baby from secondhand smoke by not smoking around your baby, not spending time in places that allow smoking, and making your house and car smokefree. Babies and young children who live in smokefree environments typically have:

• Fewer coughs and chest colds.
• Lower chances of getting bronchitis or pneumonia.
• Fewer ear infections.
• Less frequent and less severe asthma, if they have asthma.
• Fewer missed school days because of asthma attacks and breathing illnesses.
• Lower chance of smoking as an adult.
• Lower chances of dying from SIDS.

More information on free services for quitting tobacco can be found on:

• Way to Quit
• Smokefree Women
• Smokefree in pregnancy and motherhood
• Tobacco cessation benefits for Medicaid members: English & Spanish

Link to phone number: tel: 1-800-784-8669