[Smoking habits and smoking cessation in pregnancy: a study in Piedmont region]

The aim of the study was to investigate smoking habits in pregnancy in a sample of puerperae, by analyzing some risk factors associated with smoking. A retrospective study was conducted on 313 puerperae. Data about smoking habits and information received during pregnancy were collected from questionnaires compiled by the women. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. A statistically significant correlation was found between passive smoking in the family environment and the frequency of women who smoked before and in the first trimester of pregnancy (p < 0.01). A statistically significant correlation was also found between smoking during a previous and the present pregnancy (p < 0.01). Cutting down on smoking before and during pregnancy was statistically significant (p < 0.01). We wanted to evaluate whether level of education, place of birth and health care information could have affected this trend. We found a significant decrease in smoking when analyzing each factor singly, while no statistically significance of the difference was showed by the multivariate analysis. The most surprising finding was the absence of a difference between women who had received information on smoking risks and those who reported never having received information.