Local Anti-Tobacco Group Offers Parents A Reason To Quit
Posted
Amanda Bridgman-
If you’re pregnant and you smoke, did you know that if you stopped smoking, you can get a brand new car seat and a year’s worth of a diapers for free??
That’s possible through Kosciusko County’s Tobacco Free Baby & Me program.
Heidi Blake has been the program director of Tobacco Free for the last two years. She said 40 women have used the stop smoking incentive program.
Here’s the deal:
You must either be a current smoker or have been a smoker within the last three months. You must be pregnant and live in Kosciusko County. If you are not referred to the program, Blake must get a note from your doctor that states you currently are/have been a smoker.
Pregnant mothers who quit smoking will be tested using a “Smokealyzer,” which is similar to a breathalyzer breath test. If a pregnant woman falls in the nonsmoking level of the test, a $25 gift card to Walmart for diapers or baby wipes will be given, each month, for 12 months.
“But it also applies to a support partner who participates,” Blake said, explaining that could mean a spouse, a person they’re going to live with, even a parent.
“Most girls say they use about two big boxes of diapers a month and that costs about $25,” Blake said. “So, if you have a partner, that just about covers your cost.”
The free car seat is provided upon birth by Lutheran EMS and is an Evenflo Nurture model.
“Two out of three people who smoke want to quit,” Blake said.
“One out of a three people have cancer from smoking and tobacco use,” she said, pointing across the street from her K21 Health Services Pavillion to the hospital. “If we walked over there right now, one out of every three people would be in there with cancer from smoking.”
Blake, whose father was a lifelong pack-a-day smoker and died from lung cancer, is on a mission to help people.
She hopes any pregnant woman will find the incentive of free diapers for a year, a brand new car seat and the savings from not buying cigarettes to be enough to sign up for the program and kick the habit.
To contact Blake, or for more information, call 574-372-3500 or stop by the Health Services Pavillion, 1515 Provident Drive, #160, Warsaw.
