OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Just in time for Mother's Day, the Washington Department of Health has launched a new effort to help pregnant women quit smoking.

Secretary of Health Mary Selecky says about 8,700 babies are born each year to women in Washington who smoke during their pregnancies. She says those babies are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and have other health problems like ear infections and pneumonia.

The number of smoking mothers is higher among younger women, those who receive Medicaid benefits and American Indian women.

The Tobacco Quit Line (1-800-Quit-Now and in Spanish, 1-877-2No-Fume) provides free help to pregnant women who smoke before and after the baby is born. That help includes free nicotine replacement medications when appropriate and approved by the woman's doctor.