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Follow Up: Moms Still Smoke-Free After Birth
When the article, “Smoking for Two,” ran in the Bowling Green newspaper, it was accompanied by a related story about 17-year-old Kelly Johnson. A Lakota High School student, Johnson was a smoker when she found out she was pregnant.

At her first visit to the Wood County Health Department’s prenatal clinic, Johnson and her mother, Teresa Sheffel, also a smoker, both used the carbon monoxide reader. As clinic facilitator Renee Bayes talked about the risks of smoking, Sheffel found many of the facts just as shocking as they were to her daughter.

Kelly Johnson and her mother Teresa Sheffel
Photo courtesy of Aaron Carpenter/Sentinel-Tribune

With Bayes encouragement – and to Johnson’s surprise – Sheffel volunteered to quit smoking with her daughter, and they set a quit date on the spot.
Today, both women are still smoke-free and Johnson, now 18, is the mother of a healthy baby girl named Jamie Lynn. More good news: Johnson’s boyfriend, 19-year-old Josh Whitta, recently quit smoking also.

When asked what helped her the most when it came time to quit, Johnson noted several factors: “It [the 5A’s program] really works. It’s successful. And having support from other people around you makes a big difference, too.”

In addition, the health department’s quit-smoking incentive program helped tip the balance.

“I actually wanted to quit smoking because I never won anything before!” she said. During her pregnancy, Johnson won diapers, baby wipes and a Pack-N-Play portable playpen, all put to good use since Jamie Lynn was born.

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