Effect of cigarette smoking in pregnancy on infants anthropometric characteristics

The main goal of this research is to correlate anthropometric characteristics of newborns in pregnant women who consume cigarettes during pregnancy. The study was conducted at the Obstetrics Clinic of the Clinical Center, University of Sarajevo.

The retrospective study covered a period of two years. Main inclusion criteria for the study was that pregnant women consume cigarettes during pregnancy. The research included respondents who had a singleton pregnancy, without pathological conditions that can affect the outcome and duration of pregnancy.

At the Obstetrics Clinic, Clinical Center University of Sarajevo in the period from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013. In that period 393 pregnant women completed labor who in the personal history had data on smoking during pregnancy. Of the total number of subjects enrolled in this study 38.17% smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day, 33.08 % smoked up to 20 cigarettes a day, while up to 30 cigarettes per day smoked 28.75 % of respondents.

There was a significant difference in the average values of all anthropometric parameters, in relation to the number of cigarettes consumed by the subjects during the day. We also found negative correlation in the average values of anthropometric measures and the number of cigarettes consumed (p <0.05).