About Smoke-Free Families Preface Healthcare providers have long struggled to overcome the adverse effects caused by the use of tobacco during pregnancy. Some 20 percent of low birth weight births, eight percent of pre-term deliveries, and five percent of all perinatal deaths are linked to smoking during pregnancy, making smoking the most important modifiable cause of poor pregnancy outcome. Despite increased knowledge among women about the adverse effects of smoking, nearly 13 percent of women giving birth in 1998 smoked during pregnancy, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). But among some groups of women, the percentage is much higher. According to the NCHS, 30.4 percent of non-Hispanic white women aged 18-19 years smoked during pregnancy in 1998; 48 percent of non-Hispanic white women aged 20 and above who did not graduate high school smoked while pregnant. Healthcare providers are aware of the dangers of smoking for pregnant women - in a recent American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) survey, nearly all obstetricians/gynecologists reported that they always ask about smoking during a patient's first prenatal visit and advise their patients to stop smoking. But only 56 percent reported always discussing cessation strategies and slightly more than a third (35 percent) provided their patients with self-help materials to assist them in their quit attempt. Healthcare providers may, however, not be aware that an evidence-based intervention for pregnant smokers is now available. A national coordinated effort to establish this intervention as a routine part of prenatal care is now being undertaken.

PREGNANCY, SMOKING