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Multicenter Study
. 2010;89(4):505-514.
doi: 10.3109/00016341003692261.

Patterns of tobacco exposure before and during pregnancy

Marlene Anderka  1 , Paul A Romitti  2 , Lixian Sun  2 , Charlotte Druschel  3 , Suzan Carmichael  4 , Gary Shaw  5 ; National Birth Defects Prevention Study
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Patterns of tobacco exposure before and during pregnancy

Marlene Anderka et al. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2010.

Erratum in

  • Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2010 Jun;89(6):854

Abstract

Objectives: To describe maternal exposure to tobacco in the three months before conception and throughout pregnancy, examine risk factors associated with tobacco exposure in pregnancy and smoking cessation, assess use of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation and evaluate birth outcomes by smoking status.

Design: A cohort of women from a multi-site United States study were asked retrospectively about their exposure to tobacco.

Population: The study population was comprised of 4,667 mothers of non-malformed control infants who participated in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study from 1997 to 2003.

Methods: Using computer-assisted telephone interview responses from this population-based sample, we assessed patterns of maternal smoking and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) as well as use of pharmacotherapy for quitting smoking during pregnancy.

Results: Overall, 961 (20.6%) mothers reported any smoking and 1,401 (30.0%) reported any exposure to ETS at home or work during the three months before conception through pregnancy. Of the 961 smokers, 512 (53.3%) reportedly quit smoking before or during pregnancy, including 379 (74% of quitters) in the first trimester, and 420 (43.7%) continued to smoke throughout the pregnancy. Only 2.1% of smokers reportedly used pharmacotherapy to quit smoking anytime from three months before conception through pregnancy. Low birthweight and preterm delivery rates were lowest among offspring of non-smokers and highest in offspring of those who continued to smoke throughout pregnancy.

Conclusions: About one-half of mothers who reported preconceptional smoking quit before or during pregnancy. Use of pharmacotherapy to quit smoking during pregnancy was not common.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Maternal smoking and ETS exposure by gestational interval. Note: N = 4,667; ETS, environmental tobacco smoke.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in maternal smoking by gestational interval. Denominator is the number of smokers in the beginning of each gestational interval. Change in the frequency category not in exact amount of cigarettes smoked.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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