Prenatal smoking cessation among Black and White women in Eastern North Carolina

Limited information is available about Black:White disparities in prenatal smoking cessation, and the results of prior research are inconsistent. We analyzed smoking cessation and factors associated with cessation (attitudes, environment, and nicotine addiction) in a sample of pregnant Black and White women.

Women were interviewed at the first prenatal visit at two hospital-based clinics.

Among former and current smokers, there were no significant differences in the percentage of former smokers between Black (46.8%) and White (43.3%) pregnant women, or in the percentage of "spontaneous quitters" (i.e., those who quit after learning that they were pregnant) for Blacks (36%) and Whites (28%). Both Black and White spontaneous quitters had evidence of occasional relapses to smoking. For Black and White women, smoking more than a pack a day prior to pregnancy was associated with smoking during pregnancy.

Among current and former smokers, spontaneous cessation was about the same for Black and White women, and about two thirds of women who were smokers when they learned of the pregnancy continued to smoke during pregnancy. Nicotine addiction contributed to continued smoking.