Addressing and Overcoming Barriers to E-Cigarette Use for Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction:
This text describes a qualitative study examining pregnant women's vaping experiences and how vaping to stop smoking is facilitated and barriers to this are overcome. The study conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with pregnant or postpartum women who vaped during pregnancy. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews, and two themes emerged: facilitating beliefs and becoming a confident vaper.

Key Points:
- The study aimed to understand pregnant women's vaping experiences, specifically how vaping to stop smoking is facilitated and how barriers to this are overcome.
- Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with pregnant or postpartum women who vaped during pregnancy, either exclusively or dual-used (smoked and vaped).
- Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews, and two themes emerged: facilitating beliefs and becoming a confident vaper.
- Facilitating beliefs include inherent beliefs that helped women overcome barriers to vaping, such as understanding the relative safety of vaping and economic gains compared with smoking and pregnancy being a motivator to stop smoking.
- Becoming a confident vaper involved accumulating sufficient skill and confidence to comfortably vape, experimenting with e-cigarettes to ensure nicotine dependence and sensory needs were met, seeking social support, and employing strategies to address social stigma.
- The theoretical domain framework informed intervention recommendations to assist pregnant smokers who have tried but cannot stop smoking to switch to vaping.

Main Message:
The study found that positive beliefs about vaping and becoming proficient at vaping were viewed as ways to overcome barriers to vaping. The theoretical domain framework informed intervention recommendations to assist pregnant smokers who have tried but cannot stop smoking to switch to vaping. By understanding pregnant women's vaping experiences and the solutions they employ to overcome barriers, health professionals can better support pregnant dual users to stop smoking. This insight can also help develop interventions to support pregnant smokers switch from smoking to vaping in women who would otherwise continue to smoke.

Bowker K, Ussher M, Cooper S, Orton S, Coleman T, Campbell KA. Addressing and Overcoming Barriers to E-Cigarette Use for Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2020;17(13). doi:10.3390/ijerph17134823