Changes in tobacco consumption during pregnancy and the postpartum period

Objective: To find out more about tobacco consumption and the changes in the habit during pregnancy, and to observe the relapses after the delivery. Subjects and method: A cross-sectional descriptive study, carried out in the PASSIR (sexual and reproductive healthcare services) of Casagemas, Badalona, between February 2006 and September 2007. It included 115 pregnant women who attended the third trimester prenatal check-up, and those women who did not smoke at the start of the pregnancy were excluded. Socio-demographic variables as well as variables related to the tobacco habit were collected by means of a questionnaire during the pregnancy and another during the postpartum period. Results: Of the pregnant women 26% (30) stopped smoking, and those who continued to smoke reduced the consumption from an average of 19.2 (DE=6.7) to 7.2 (DE=6) cigarettes/day. Differences were observed in tobacco cessation among those who smoked a smaller number of cigarettes (p <0.001), those who started tobacco smoking later and among older pregnant women (p= 0.013). One year after giving birth, 73% (70) of the women continued to smoke, and 39.2% (11) of those who had stopped smoking during pregnancy had relapsed to smoking. Of the women who didn’t smoke 76.9% (20) breastfed their babies, while among those who smoked 57.1% (40) breastfed their babies. The average duration of the breastfeeding was smaller in the case of the women who smoked during the postpartum