First Breath Program Helps Pregnant Moms Quit Smoking

In Wisconsin, 15% of pregnant women admit to smoking during pregnancy, 2% more than the national average.

But the First Breath Program, offered by the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation (WWHF) and administered through prenatal care providers, is helping pregnant women successfully quit smoking. And it recently reached a milestone: Since 2001, 10,000 pregnant women have participated in First Breath with a conservatively estimated quit rate of 35%. This means that 3,500 pregnant women in Wisconsin have quit smoking as a result of the First Breath Program, resulting in healthier moms, healthier babies, and lower health costs to the state. Check out a news story printed last week in the Wisconsin Dells Events.

Wisconsin Medicaid is the prime payer for births in Wisconsin. In 2004, Wisconsin Medicaid paid for 35% (24,664) of the total 70,131 births in our state. And, pregnant Wisconsin Medicaid recipients smoke at a high rate (about 30%). As a result, WWHF’s First Breath Program is helping reduce a powerful driver of Medicaid costs in Wisconsin.

• First Breath saves $3.00 in healthcare costs for every $1.00 it spends.


• Since 2001, First Breath has saved almost $3 million in just neonatal health costs.


• If First Breath succeeds in preventing just two very low birth-weight premature babies each year, those costs savings to Wisconsin Medicaid (approximately $400,000) far exceed the total annual cost of the First Breath Program.
  

Locally, Beth TenPas, PHN for the Sheboygan County Health Department, was honored at a recent First Breath Conference for her work in enrolling over 250 participants into the First Breath Program. Way to go Beth!

For more information about First Breath, visit http://www.wwhf.org/, click Programs.