Many Hillsdale Co. women smoke while pregnant

Home City News Many Hillsdale Co. women smoke while pregnant
Many Hillsdale Co. women smoke while pregnant

More mothers in Hillsdale County smoke while pregnant than in neighboring counties.

According to the most recent data released by the Michigan Department of Community Health in 2011, Hillsdale County’s maternal and infant birth statistics fare better than the state average in some categories, but prove to be worse in others.

“Tobacco use is more prevalent with those that are less educated and socioeconomically disadvantaged,” said Theresa Christner, health education and promotion director at Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency. “21.8 percent of moms [who delivered babies] had less than a high school education during 2008-2010. In 2011 it was 22 percent. 51.5 percent of deliveries were paid for by Medicaid, which can be an indicator of low socioeconomic status.”

In 2011, 29.1 percent of mothers in Hillsdale smoked while pregnant, compared to the state average of 19.3 percent. On a national scale, the CDC Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS) reported that in 2008 13 percent of women reported smoking during the last trimester.

But data from 2008-2010 shows that Hillsdale’s smoking while pregnant rate was lower than Michigan’s average, along with the averages of two counties of similar population size, Branch County and St. Joseph County. Christner said it’s important to look at data over a three-year span, since Hillsdale County is so small.

From 2008-2010, one in three mothers who delivered babies indicated on their birth certificate that they used tobacco products during or before pregnancy. In Branch and St. Joseph counties, one in four mothers used tobacco products before or during pregnancy.

Of those that reported smoking prior to or during their pregnancy, 7.6 percent of Michigan moms indicated that they had quit. St. Joseph County had the lowest proportion of moms that had quit at 5.7 percent, followed by Branch County at 6.0 percent. Hillsdale County had the highest proportion of moms that had quit at 8.8 percent, according to the report.

Amy Zoll, Hillsdale Community Health Center clinical nurse manager obstetrician, said research that emerged heavily in the 1980s indicates how harmful certain medications and products like tobacco are to a pregnant woman’s body and the child within.

“Most notably, smoking in pregnancy can cause premature birth, certain birth defects, and infant death,” Zoll said. “Smoking is dangerous because it increases the chance of miscarriage, can cause problems with the placenta, cause low birth weight in infants, and is a risk factor for SIDS [Sudden Infant Death Syndrome].”

The Hillsdale County Health Department has smoking cessation classes regularly available to mothers that struggle to quit smoking while pregnant.

“I wish I did [know why the smoking rate is higher in Hillsdale]. I know that the Health Department is amazing,” Zoll said. “They educate, educate, educate. We are great supporters of everything that they do. We are always trained to educate our moms as to what they have to offer and utilize those community resources. They have a hard job, reaching out to so many people. But they do a good job.”

Based on the data from 2011, Hillsdale also exceeds the state average in teen pregnancies, mothers with less than 12 years of education, and excessive weight gained by mothers while pregnant with a single baby.

While Hillsdale was above the state average in percentage of mothers who breastfeed their children and are married, fewer also receive prenatal care in the first trimester and have the HIV test performed.

Zoll noted that she sees changing rises and declines in trends and percentages, especially in teen pregnancies, with every year’s set of data.

                 mdelp@hillsdale.edu