Smoking Behaviours Among Pregnant Women in the Baffin Region of Nunavut

Abstract

This thesis examined three different research questions to help build a knowledge base for future intervention strategies by better understanding the reasons behind smoking among pregnant women in Nunavut. The first study focused more at the individual level and investigates clinical and socioeconomic factors and their relationship to readiness to quit smoking. The second manuscript moved beyond the individual level to the broader social and structural environment to identify a broader range of barriers and facilitators to smoking and smoking cessation among Inuit women. This second manuscript draws upon in-depth interviews focusing on perceptions of smoking, and perceived barriers and facilitators of smoking behaviours. Finally, the third manuscript investigated the perspectives of health care providers regarding the barriers and facilitators of smoking cessation for pregnant women in the Baffin Region of Nunavut and describes perceptions of smoking cessation resources available to health care providers in the Baffin Region.