Quitting smoking in pregnancy

Smoking doubles the risk of having a low-birthweight baby and significantly increases the rate of perinatal mortality and several other adverse pregnancy outcomes. The mean reduction in birthweight for babies of smoking mothers is 200 g. High quality interventions to help pregnant women quit smoking produce an absolute difference of 8.1% in validated late-pregnancy quit rates. If abstinence is not achievable, it is likely that a 50% reduction in smoking would be the minimum necessary to benefit the health of mother and baby. Healthcare providers perform poorly in antenatal interventions to stop women smoking. Midwives deliver interventions at a higher rate than doctors. The efficacy of nicotine replacement therapy has not been established in pregnancy. Currently, its use should only be considered in women smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day who have made a recent, unsuccessful attempt to quit and who are motivated to quit. Relapse prevention programs have shown little success in the postpartum period.