Association of Smoking Habits of Mother during Pregnancy with Pregnancy Outcome

BACKGROUND The objectives of this work were to study the association of maternal smoking habits with stillbirths, abortions, neonatal deaths, birth weights, placental weights and the outcomes on the 28(th) day of life. METHODS A questionnaire was developed and completed with the hospitals' recorded data collected over a period of 5 years from 47,000 babies born in several hospitals in Ontario, Canada. The mothers were classified into four categories: non-smokers, light smokers (less than 10 cigarettes per day), moderate smokers (between 10 and 19 cigarettes per day) and heavy smokers (20 or more cigarettes per day). The population surveyed was of mixed ethnicity from both rural and urban areas. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical package. RESULTS Even the light smoking habit has an effect on the birth weight and the placental weight but for other characteristics, stillbirth, abortion, and the outcomes on the 28(th) day of life, no significant difference observed between light smokers and non-smokers. CONCLUSION While quit smoking must be the ultimate goal for any smoker, the present study concludes that moderate and heavy smokers, if they will not be able to quit, they should reduce their number of cigarettes per day to at least the level of light smokers to achieve the same results for non-smokers. All characteristics show significant difference between non-smokers and moderate and heavy smokers.