Modifying Progesterone and Estradiol Levels

Maternal smoking has severe health consequences for both mothers and their children. Unfortunately, effective postpartum cessation and relapse interventions are lacking. Sex hormones have been found to influence drug-taking behaviors. Specifically, progesterone has been found to be protective against drug-taking behaviors. Progesterone increases throughout pregnancy, dramatically decreases after delivery, and is maintained at a low level until the menstrual cycle resumes, at which point it returns to the natural cyclical pattern. This hormonal pattern may undermine motivation to maintain abstinence during the postpartum period. 

In this project, we are enrolling pregnant and postpartum women with either a recent history of smoking and a desire to remain abstinent after childbirth or who are currently smoking and motivated to quit smoking. Participants are assigned to a control group or a group that receives a 12-week course of exogenous progesterone during the postpartum period. We anticipate that higher levels of progesterone will be associated with smoking abstinence.