craigdailypress.com

Acetone, arsenic, ammonia.

Candle wax, carbon monoxide, lighter fluid.

Smokers inhale these and other ingredients every time they light up, said Sara Hitz, Women, Infants and Children program educator at the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association's Craig office.

The hazards of smoking are compounded when the smoker is a pregnant woman.

Baby & Me Tobacco Free, a program recently launched by the VNA, is banking on the belief that new and expectant mothers in Moffat and Routt counties can quit smoking with support and incentives.

Baby & Me Tobacco Free is a grant-funded program that checks in with local pregnant mothers who are trying to quit smoking.

Participants meet with program workers four times during their pregnancy. Mothers-to-be undergo a breath test each visit that gauges the amount of carbon monoxide in their breath to determine if they have been smoking recently.

The program also highlights the dangers of smoking, both for themselves and their babies.

Almost 20 women in Moffat County currently are in the Tobacco Free program, which started this year.

Hitz believes the program is proving its effectiveness in its first year.

"For the first time, there (are) quite a few women who've stayed smoke-free after the baby is born," she said.

Baby & Me Tobacco Free doesn't guarantee its participants will quit smoking for good. Based on her observation of the program so far, Hitz said there's a 20 percent chance participants will start smoking again.

Still, in her estimation, the program works because it highlights the positive effects quitting smoking could have on the unborn.

"I think most pregnant women are happy to know they're making a good choice for their babies," Hitz said, adding that quitting smoking reduces the risk of miscarriages and giving birth to babies with low birth weights.

"Usually, what helps them decide to quit is just the fact that it's healthier for their baby if they stop smoking. "

That was the case for Denise Vail.

Vail, who now lives in Steamboat Springs, recently went through the Tobacco Free program when she lived in Craig.

She had smoked for a couple of years before she became pregnant with her daughter, Heaven.

During those years, she tried overcoming the habit. But each time she quit, she eventually started up again, she said.

She gave quitting another try after she became pregnant, gradually whittling down her cigarette consumption during her pregnancy.

Vail gave birth in June. Two months later, she said, she gave up cigarettes completely.

Quitting smoking hasn't always been easy for her.

"I get some days where I get cravings for cigarettes, when I see someone else smoking," she said.

"I try to stay away from it."

Fortunately for Vail and other mothers like her, Baby & Me Tobacco Free doesn't end on delivery day.

New mothers check in with the program once a month for the first year after giving birth. During each visit, women undergo a breath test to check their carbon monoxide levels.

And, if the test comes out clean, the mothers get a reward: a $25 Wal-Mart voucher that only can be used for diapers.

For more information about Baby & Me Tobacco Free, call the VNA at 824-8233.

Bridget Manley can be reached at 875-1795 or bmanley@craigdailypress.com