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From theories that suggest behavior is influenced by direct observation of personal and immediate consequences of the behavior, we hypothesized that public prenatal patients would reduce their smoking if they observed the level of carbon monoxide in their own alveolar air. An experimental design was used that involved 170 subjects, multiple measures of smoking, and data collection before the intervention and six weeks later. It was concluded that the intervention had either a small or no influence on cigarette smoking. (Am J Public Health 1983; 73:1089-1091 IntroductionResearch suggests that cigarette smoking during pregnancy can harm the fetus, infant, and child.'-6 Five earlier studies have assessed the influence of interventions intended to reduce smoking during pregnancy.7-'°* A substantial body of theory and research suggests that behavior will be influenced if negative consequences of the behavior are: 1) displayed rather than presented in the abstract; 2) clearly linked to the person and not only to others; and 3) shown to exist in the present rather than offered as a possibility for the distant future. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Given this guidance, we might expect that telling prenatal patients their smoking will cause lung cancer and heart disease would be ineffective because few could be shown that they have those consequences. In contrast, their

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