The program is unique because it does not focus on tobacco cessation but on stress.

WILTON – Healthy Community Coalition’s program Tobacco-Free Franklin Families is presenting a series of workshops for pregnant women and mothers who are trying to quit smoking.

Titled Diapers, Dishes, and Deep Breathing, the series will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 17, Thursday, June 19, Tuesday, June 24, and Thursday, June 26, at the Franklin County Children’s Task Force.

The free stress relief workshop series is for pregnant women and mothers of children up to five years old. Free on-site child care is available at each session through the staff of Franklin Childcare.

In Franklin County, the percentage of women who smoke before pregnancy (35 percent) and after pregnancy (25 percent) is higher than the state percentages, according to Maine’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, 1999.

Diapers, Dishes, and Deep Breathing is part of a Healthy Community Coalition’s communitywide pilot project, Tobacco-Free Franklin Families, which aims to reduce smoking during pregnancy, reduce the number of women smoking postpartum, and decrease the number of children age five and under exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.

Diapers, Dishes, and Deep Breathing is unique because it does not focus on tobacco cessation but on stress, which is one of the major barriers women report to quitting smoking, Program Associate Katie Marble said. “By providing women with alternative coping methods to deal with stress in their lives, we hope participants will gain confidence in their ability to quit smoking.”

This workshop series provides experiences with a variety of stress relief techniques including massage therapy, aromatherapy, journaling, deep breathing, and more. Guest presenters include registered nurse Joyce Murphy, Judy Murphy of Touch of the Earth A Healing Center, and Cindy Ross of Mountain View Herbals.

Tobacco-Free Franklin Families is funded through a grant from the American Legacy Foundation and Fund for a Healthy Maine. Healthy Community Coalition, an affiliate of the Franklin Community Health Network, is a comprehensive community-based health promotion, education, outreach and prevention organization serving west central Maine.

Each woman is registered for door prizes for attending each evening and receives a free relaxation kit valued at $20 at the end of the series. Space is limited to 10 so preregistration is required for participants and children who will be in child care. To register, phone Katie Marble at Healthy Community Coalition at 645-3136 extension 5112.