AMERIGROUP NEVADA FUNDS NEW PROGRAM TO HELP CLARK COUNTY PREGNANT WOMAN QUIT SMOKING
BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program™ Available to Pregnant Moms at Sunrise Children’s Foundation
According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 30 percent of soon-to-be mothers in Nevada smoke during their pregnancy. Through a partnership with Amerigroup Nevada and Sunrise Children’s Foundation, pregnant moms in Southern Nevada can now participate in the BABY & ME Tobacco Free Program™, which is led by trained and certified professionals at Sunrise Children’s Foundation WIC (Women, Infants & Children) Clinics in Las Vegas, to help pregnant women quit smoking and maintain smoking cessation throughout the postpartum period and beyond.
Tobacco use during pregnancy is a known cause of birth defects, premature births, underweight babies, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Quitting smoking greatly reduces the health risks to both the mother and baby.
“The most effective way to protect Nevada babies and mothers from neonatal and maternal health risks is to ensure mothers quit smoking during their pregnancy and stay smoke free. But despite a pregnancy, we know that quitting smoking can be difficult,” said Amerigroup Nevada Medical Director Dr. Richard Roberts. “We look forward to our partnership with the BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program™ & Sunrise Children’s Foundation WIC Clinics to provide Southern Nevada moms with access to resources and support to help them quit smoking and encourage them to continue a healthy, smoke free lifestyle once their babies are born.”
Laurie Adams, BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program™ executive director and program creator, provided the technical support and training to Sunrise Children’s Foundation’s WIC Clinics and certified 42 of its staff members to implement and enroll women into the program. “Sunrise Children’s Foundation is a perfect fit for the program, because they provide services to a large number of prenatal women and they support their quit attempts.
Pregnant women, who enroll in the program, receive counseling support and resources to help them quit smoking. Upon successfully quitting and staying quit, enrolled participants are eligible for FREE diapers during the prenatal period and up to 12 months following the birth of their baby. This program employs cessation methods and guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its effectiveness has been documented through research. The greatest gift a woman can give her baby is a tobacco-free pregnancy and a tobacco-free home. We are thrilled to launch the first Nevada program enrollment site and work with The WIC staff at Sunrise Children’s Foundation in Las Vegas to help pregnant women in their community.
The BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program™, underway at Sunrise Children’s Foundation is generously funded by Amerigroup Nevada with the goal to enroll at least 150 pregnant smoking women into the program. The BABY & ME – Tobacco Free Program™ is in 20 states nationwide and has enrolled over 12,000 women. For more information on the program or how to enroll contact the WIC Meadows Clinic located at 3838 Meadows Lane, phone 702-646-5600 or [email protected] or go to www.babyandmetobaccofree.org.