After hearing that France was ‘the European country where pregnant women smoke the most’, French hospitals have begun a study to determine if a financial incentive would help persuade mums-to-be to quit nicotine.
Pregnant smokers who commit to giving up will be paid a series of €20 (around $30) vouchers, which could add up to €300 (around $463) if they do not start smoking again.
Women can take part in the study if they are over 18 and have been pregnant less than four months. The other criteria is that they smoke more than five manufactured cigarettes (or three rolled cigarettes) a day.
Participants are not allowed to use cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, or other tobacco products, and must agree to frequent testing.
While the risks of smoking during pregnancy are well documented, smoking can be a hard addiction to quit. So is a financial incentive likely to help?
The Weekly Online spoke to ex-smoker and mother of one Alex about the initiative. Prior to falling pregnant the 28-year-old was a “pack a day smoker” and although she acknowledged that the habit was detrimental to her health had no intention of quitting.
However, when she found out that she was six weeks pregnant she stopped smoking immediately. Although she says it was hard, especially when she was around other smokers, she says that she wanted to do it for her baby.
“I wanted to stop for my unborn child. For her growth and the development of her lungs and body. If that’s not a good enough reason then I don’t see how money would help,” she says.
Now she is the mother of a “smiley and alert baby” and she is still nicotine free.
But however motivated pregnant smokers feel there is no denying that nicotine is a highly addictive substance. And for some, the urge to smoke can take be stronger than the will to quit.
Alex agrees. She says that quitting smoking was “tough” and that while she did it “cold turkey” a bit of extra support in terms of nicotine patches, gum or even counselling would have helped more than a $30 voucher.
The French anti-smoking scheme is reminiscent of a controversial British trial in which women were offered a financial incentive to breastfeed.
Although the scheme caused a huge stir among parenting groups, data from the trial looked promising. Mothers who took part in the project said that they spent the vouchers on groceries, nappies, baby clothes and toys.
One mother told the Guardian: “Sometimes you think ‘should I just move on to the bottle now?’ and then I think ‘oh but then I won’t get the money to be able to treat them’, so it does help.”
Of course the bigger question is a moral one. Do governments have the right to shape their citizens into non-smokers or breast-feeders or even exercise enthusiasts?
Ex-smoker and mother of two Alison thinks that the proposed French scheme is actually quite offensive.
“I would bet most mothers that smoke don’t intend to do it while they are pregnant but if you’re addicted to something its not as simple as stopping,” she says.
“It’s none of the governments business what choices I make, even if I make the wrong ones.”
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