[Smoking behavior of pregnant patients and mothers with young children]

The aim of the study is to analyse the smoking behaviour of pregnant women and mothers with young children and to identify sociodemographic factors for the nicotine consumption of these persons. Data basis are the national and regional health examination surveys of the German Cardiovascular Prevention Study (GCP). Included were 8385 females in the age group 25-40 years. 326 (3.9%) of these females were pregnant at the time of the survey, and 2538 (30.3%) were mothers with one or more children, aged up to 5 years. Smoking behaviour, family status, number and age of the children and other sociodemographic variables were determined with a self-administered standardised questionnaire. Altogether, 39.4% of the 8385 females reported that they were current smokers. The prevalence of smoking for females without young children was slightly higher (42.3%). 20.6% of all pregnant females were current smokers. For mothers in the lowest social class, the smoking prevalence was two times higher compared to mothers in the highest social class. Unmarried and divorced mothers yielded a very high smoking prevalence. These results suggest that there is a need for prevention and health promotion programs for pregnant females and young mothers. Special emphasis should be targetted at unmarried young mothers and mothers from socially disadvantaged population groups.