This objective represented the qualitative developmental phase of the postpartum relapse intervention in order to tailor the intervention to the needs of the target population. The focus-groups and interviews aimed to qualitatively explore the issues related to the women's motivation and self-efficacy, the two key components of the planned intervention. To develop the postpartum smoking relapse intervention strategy the Motivation and Problem Solving (MAPS) strategy of Reitzel and colleagues was followed, the newest approach in the relapse prevention field, incorporating both motivational and self-efficacy components into the intervention, adapted to local attitudes and preferences. MAPS was successful in preventing relapse. The intervention is based on Motivational Interviewing and the seminal relapse prevention model, probably the most prominent theory of smoking cessation and relapse. Self-efficacy is viewed as the principal causal determinant of successful abstinence, among other individual and contextual factors, is hypothesized to increase. The model also specifies that the individual needs to be sufficiently motivated to avoid relapse. Briefly, the phone counseling sessions consist of information about the benefits of abstinence to increase motivation, and helping women identify and manage high-risk relapse situations, therefore enhancing their self-efficacy. The aim is to deliver consistent repeated advice by a trained professional over the phone in the postpartum period. Following the newest approaches in the field, the smoking husbands/partners are also targeted with brief motivational advice using the birth as a teachable moment to quit. Two psychologists were trained to deliver the phone motivational advice. Self help materials were also created and are distributed to all 250 women participating in the trial. A randomization algorithm was set up to assign patients into the intervention or control groups.