Smoking cessation and associated factors during pregnancy

To examine smoking habits before and during pregnancy, as well as factors associated with smoking cessation, in three European settings.

Women seeking antenatal care in Ashford (UK), Minorca and Barcelona (Spain) were recruited to the Asthma Multicenter Infant Cohort Study (AMICS). Questionnaires inquiring into the smoking habits of each woman and her partner, demographic data, occupation, educational level, number of previous children, breast feeding, alcohol intake, and history of asthma and of other allergic diseases were completed during pregnancy and in the first year after delivery.

A total of 1,572 pregnant women were included in the three cohorts. Smoking prior to pregnancy was more common in Barcelona (46.2%) than in Minorca (39.8%) or Ashford (31.6%). Cessation rates during pregnancy also differed: 18% of women in Ashford, 20.4% in Minorca and 31.9% in Barcelona were still smoking during the first trimester. In a multivariate regression model, the factors showing a significant (negative) association with smoking cessation during pregnancy were having older children, having a partner who smoked and starting smoking at a young age.

Baseline smoking habits and changes in smoking habits during pregnancy significantly differed between the three communities studied. Women pregnant with their first child, those who had started smoking at a later age and those whose partners were non-smokers were more likely to stop smoking when pregnant.