Premium
SMOKING IN PREGNANCY
Author(s) -
COPE IAN,
LANCASTER PAUL,
STEVENS LESLIE
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1973.tb110621.x
Subject(s) - pregnancy , medicine , obstetrics , gestation , post partum , incidence (geometry) , population , marital status , demography , gynecology , environmental health , genetics , physics , sociology , optics , biology
An analysis has been made of the associations between smoking in pregnancy and various maternal and obstetrical factors as well as pregnancy outcome for an obstetric population of over 4,000 mothers. The overall incidence of smoking during pregnancy was 30.1%. Smoking during pregnancy was more common in the public booking category, in younger mothers, in single girls and women with marital difficulties, and in Australian‐born women. The pregnancies of the smokers were more likely to be complicated by minor ante‐partum hæmorrhage, but hypertension after 20 weeks' gestation was less likely for the smokers. The mean birthweight of the babies of smokers was reduced by almost 180 grams. The stillbirth rate was higher for smokers than for non‐smokers; the early neonatal mortality rate was similar in the two groups. The need for adequately controlled studies is emphasized and the implications of the results of this and other studies in regard to educational campaigns are discussed.