Make This Mother’s Day a Tobacco-Free Success Story

The Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline Now Offers Four Times More FREE Resources for Mothers, Grandmothers and All Oklahomans.

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 27, 2022) — This Mother’s Day, the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline is wishing Oklahoma mothers and their families a happy, healthy and tobacco-free life. To help make that wish a reality, the Helpline is offering up to 8 weeks of FREE nicotine replacement therapy, rather than the two weeks typically offered.

Registrants will also receive up to five Quit Coach calls for those who enroll in the All Access plan. The increased nicotine replacement therapy (gum, patches or lozenges) is a limited time offer and expires on June 30.

About 17% of Oklahoma women smoke, which places them at high risk of smoking-related health issues like infertility, lung cancer, stroke and heart disease. Babies born to mothers who smoke may be born too early or at a low birth weight, which increases the risk of longer hospital stays and sickness.

Candace Hammontree of Glenpool, Oklahoma was motived to quit tobacco with the Helpline to be a healthy role model for her family. She quit alongside her husband, Chase, who also successfully quit with the Helpline.

“You only get to enjoy your children’s childhood once, and smoking cigarettes was standing in the way of that.” Candace said. “We wanted to make sure that our children grow up healthy. My personal goal was for my daughter to never remember her parents as cigarette smokers — and she doesn’t.”

To assist mothers and other participants in their own quit journeys, the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline allows participants to select individual options, a comprehensive plan or a bundled program of FREE services. These include text and email support, phone and web coaching, texting and free patches, gum or lozenges. Moms-to-be are eligible for additional one-on-one support so their babies can have the best start at life — and receive the gift of a healthier mom.

“[Since quitting tobacco], I’ve enjoyed hiking, spending time outside and even taking the kids to the splash pad,” Candace said. “When you’re a cigarette smoker, you can’t do that. You’re huffing and puffing. You’re coughing your head off.”

Children from families who smoke are twice as likely to become smokers themselves. Infants and young children, whose bodies and lungs have not fully developed, are particularly vulnerable to dangerous secondhand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), ear infections, asthma attacks, bronchitis, pneumonia and more.

This Mother’s Day, May 8, the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline is offering all mothers – smokers and nonsmokers – tips on how to protect their children and families from the dangers of smoke, secondhand smoke and secondhand vape:

• If you smoke, call 1-800-QUIT NOW or visit com to learn more about the free, nonjudgmental and supportive services offered.
• Protect your child from secondhand smoke and vape by avoiding places that allow tobacco use.
• Maintain an entirely tobacco-free home and vehicle.
• Educate your children about the dangers of smoking and tobacco use at an early age.
• Ask your child about their friends’ attitudes towards tobacco. Discuss peer pressure and how to deal with it.

Call 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit OKhelpline.com to explore the free services and resources available to Oklahomans. You can also connect with the Helpline through Facebook or by following @OKhelpline on Twitter and Instagram.

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The Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline is a free service for Oklahomans wanting to help themselves, loved ones, patients or employees live tobacco free. Funding is primarily provided by the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, in partnership with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Oklahoma Health Care Authority and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline has served more than 470,000 Oklahomans since 2003 and has been ranked among the top quitlines for reaching tobacco users seeking treatment for the last 10 years by the North American Quitline Consortium.

The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) serves as a partner and bridge builder for organizations shaping a healthier future for all Oklahomans. TSET provides leadership at the intersections of health by working with local coalitions and initiatives across the state, cultivating innovative and life-changing research and working across public and private sectors to develop, support, implement and evaluate creative strategies to take advantage of emerging opportunities to improve the public’s health. TSET – Better Lives Through Better Health. To learn more, go to TSET.ok.gov.