Brisk Walking Can Help a Pregnant Woman Quit Smoking

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A study from Canada reports that a 20-minute brisk walk can help curb a pregnant woman’s nicotine cravings by 30 percent. Substance cravings may increase during pregnancy, due to a woman’s increasing and fluctuating hormones, so, exercise can be a useful tool for an expectant mom to decrease nicotine cravings.

Cigarette smoke has been established through many studies to contribute to bad pregnancy outcomes and long-term problems for the child. Risks of smoking during pregnancy include premature birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, some birth defects, respiratory problems in the child, and placental abruption, where the placenta detaches from the uterus, which can lead to fetal distress or fetal death.

Smoking cigarettes, then, is one of the worst things to do for your unborn baby. But we’ve all heard (or know firsthand) how difficult it is to stop nicotine dependency.

The study, published recently in the journal Addictive Behaviors, recruited thirty pregnant women in their second trimester, from Canada or England, who smoked more than five cigarettes a day and did not exercise regularly. The women were told not to smoke for 15 to 19 hours before the experiment started.

Half of the women were randomly selected to walk on a treadmill, and the other half viewed a 20-minute home-gardening video. Researchers used a seven-point scale to measure the results of the exercise vs. watching the video.

Among the women who walked the treadmill, not only did the exercise reduce their cigarette cravings by almost one third, but also, it reduced their nicotine withdrawal symptoms. These women were found to be less irritable, restless and tense — symptoms often associated with nicotine withdrawal — than the women who had watched the video.

The downside? Thirty minutes after walking the treadmill, the exercising women reported only a 17-percent reduction in their nicotine cravings. This means that, while exercise alone may not lead some expectant mothers to quit smoking, it can certainly be a useful and important part of their quitting strategy.

Earlier research had shown that exercise can lessen nicotine cravings in both men and women; but the above study is the first to replicate these results with pregnant women. Study author Harry Prapavessis, director of the Exercise and Health Psychology Laboratory at Western University in Ontario, Canada, noted that while the study is limited by its small size, it can be extremely difficult to recruit pregnant women for such a study, due to the social stigma associated with smoking during pregnancy.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends light physical exercise for pregnant women several times a week, for 30 minutes at a time. Regular exercise has proven very beneficial for all people who do it and can improve circulation and tone in a pregnant woman, as well as help make labor easier. However, expecting women should consult with their healthcare providers before starting a new exercise program.

By Marc Courtiol