“Ask parents what they want to do” – Mothers seeking help with parenting and their perspectives on barriers and potential enablers for help with smoking cessation : A qualitative study

Purpose
To describe parents' perceptions of opportunities and barriers to smoking cessation in early parenting and the support needed to achieve this.

Design and methods
A qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews with mothers, and inductive thematic analysis.

Results
Barriers to cessation intervention included readiness to quit, lack of knowledge, and the shame and stigma of seeking help. Mothers' perceived opportunities for support from early parenting services included approaches to effecting change, leveraging opportunities to explore smoking cessation, and tailoring interventions to family strengths, with a focus on promoting attachment.

Conclusions
Mothers may be struggling with parenting, but are also open to opportunities to explore smoking behaviours and intervention. Nurses and other health care professionals working in this setting may be well situated to support parents with their decisions to consider smoking cessation and avoid smoking relapse.

Practice implications
The findings can assist nurses and other early parenting service clinicians to consider their approach to parents who continue to smoke or are at risk of smoking relapse.