Dr Duong (Danielle) Tran is a UNSW Sydney epidemiologist who has just completed a major review on the effects of smoking cessation medications in pregnancy. She says the results are reassuring for GPs who want to help their pregnant patients quit. Here Dr Tran shares details on what their study found:

“Nearly one in 10 pregnant women smoke, yet question marks over the safety of smoking cessation medications for unborn babies have reduced the options GPs can suggest to help them quit.

Medications, including nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), varenicline (Champix) and bupropion (Zyban) are effective tools to help people quit.

But due to a lack of clear evidence for their safety in pregnant women, many clinical guidelines have advised caution when using NRT and have recommended against varenicline or bupropion altogether.