When Alize Sterner enters this world — sometime in the next couple of days, the doctors are saying — she will already have received an amazing gift from her mom. Preparing for the birth of her first child, Noemi (Mimi) Cancel has “kicked the habit.”

After 15 years of tobacco use, Cancel quit smoking about six months ago.

A Titusville resident, Cancel was made aware that by smoking cigarettes she was increasing health risks for her unborn baby. So just after the first of this year, the battle began, and it was no easy fight.

“I’ve had cravings, especially right at first, seeing people smoke around me, smelling it,” she said.

Even the smell of cigarette tobacco, unlighted, would cause her to want a smoke. “I woke up in the middle of the night a lot, and I was eating a lot of candy. It was hard for a while. It took about a month and a half before I felt I could say, ‘This is working.’ ”

Cancel’s success is not hers alone. She’s one of many pregnant women helped by state health officials. The reason for all the attention comes down to some troubling statistics: Across Pennsylvania, 18 percent of pregnant women continue to smoke before their baby is born — and here in northwest Pennsylvania, that number skyrockets to 28 percent.

While that number may be worrisome to anyone who suspects that smoking and pregnancy should not mix, to health officials the staggering local statistic demands they take action. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women who smoke during pregnancy are twice as likely to have health complications that may cause pre-term labor. In fact, babies born to smokers are 30 percent more likely to be born prematurely and/or with lower birth weights, increasing their risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS.

Among those most devoted to the cause is Shannon Eckels of St. Marys, the region’s tobacco control coordinator for the Department of Health. “We’re not quite sure why our numbers here are so high,” she says. “But I think a lot of it is because we’re very rural and have higher poverty levels. In lower socio-economic sectors, you tend to see higher tobacco use.

“Basically, we’ve got to raise awareness. A lot of (pregnant women) don’t realize how harmful this is (to their unborn baby). We have to give them the power they need to quit and then provide some resources along the way.”

For young moms who probably wanted to quit smoking anyway, those resources add to the incentive to give it a shot. The list is impressive:

n Free diapers for your baby, for new moms who stay smoke free;

n Nicotine replacement therapies, free for those who actively participate in the Northwest Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Program;

n Group and individual therapy sessions guided by trained facilitators;

n Around-the-clock telephone support by dialing (800) Quit Now;