Cocaine and the risk of low birth weight

In a population-based case-control study, we assessed the relation between cocaine use and the risk of low birth weight in Alameda County, California, excluding women who used heroin and/or methadone during pregnancy. After adjustment for confounders, the relative risk of low birth weight in users of cocaine throughout pregnancy was 4.0 (95% CI = 1.8, 8.9). Cocaine use was estimated to account for 10 percent of cases of low birth weight in Black women in Alameda County.