Implementation and Outcomes of a Maternal Smoking Cessation Program for a Multi-ethnic Cohort in California, USA, 2012–2019

Smoking during pregnancy remains one of the most significant risk factors for poor birth outcomes. During 2012–2019, the Loma Linda University Health Comprehensive Tobacco Treatment Program (CTTP) used a multicomponent behavioral intervention for tobacco cessation for 1402 pregnant smokers with components of known efficacy (i.e., incentives, biomarker testing, feedback, and motivational interviewing). The CTTP cohort includes a multi-ethnic sample of pregnant women with a mean age of 27 years referred by collaborating community-based healthcare providers in San Bernardino county. Evaluation of program outcomes from 7 years of follow-up (2012–2019) creates a rich cohort dataset for implementation science research to examine the real-world effectiveness of the program. In this report, we provide a cohort profile, and 8-week prolonged abstinence (8-week PA) and relapse findings from the first year of follow-up ( n = 233). We found: (1) 28.4% achieved 8-week PA, (2) At a median of 6.2 months of follow-up after achieving 8-week PA, 23.2% of enrolled subjects reported tobacco cessation, and (3) a high rate of loss to follow-up (44%). In addition, our modeling indicated that the odds of relapse/smoking after enrollment was significantly higher in young mothers, non-Hispanic mothers (White, Black/African-American), mothers in the first and third trimester, and rural mothers. Formative quantitative and qualitative research on the CTTP cohort will consider the effects of a range of implementation science (number of intervention sessions, addition of a mHealth component, distance to care) and individual (partner/household smoking, birth outcomes, NICU) outcome measures for the purpose of scaling up the CTTP model.