Smoking cessation during pregnancy: a population-based study

To measure the prevalence of smoking cessation during pregnancy and to identify factors associated with its occurrence.

The present survey included all puerperal women living in the municipality of Rio Grande, RS, whose birth occurred between January 1 and December 31, 2013. A single standardized questionnaire was applied, in the hospital, within 48 hours of delivery. Multivariate analysis was performed using Poisson regression with robust variance.

The prevalence of smoking cessation among the 598 parturients studied was 24.9% (95%CI 21.5-28.6). After adjusting for confounding factors, mothers aged 13 to 19 years (PR = 1.76; 95%CI 1.13-2.74), who had higher family income (PR = 1.83; 95%CI, 1.23-2.72), higher educational level (PR = 2.79; 95%CI 1.27-6.15), higher number of prenatal appointments (PR = 1.84; 95%CI 1.11-3.05), and who did not smoke in the previous pregnancy (PR = 2.93; 95% CI, 1.95-4.41) presented a higher prevalence ratio of smoking cessation.

Although pregnancy is a window of opportunity for smoking cessation, the rate of cessation was low. The prevalence of cessation was higher among mothers with lower risk of complications, suggesting the need for interventions prioritizing pregnant women of lower socioeconomic levels.