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Introduction:Smoking rates have dropped substantially in most developed countries in recent decades. This general trend has, however, not always been evident among women—particularly younger women. Smoking habits do, however, often change in connection with pregnancy and the aim of this study is to determine whether smoking during pregnancy follows general trends in smoking rates in the general female population in four countries with active anti-tobacco policies and decreasing population smoking rates.Methods:Changes in rates of persistent smoking, that is, smoking in late pregnancy or daily smoking among all women of childbearing age were described according to age groups. Data were retrieved from the Australian Household Drug Surveys during 2000–2013 and from registries and surveys in Finland, Norway, and Sweden between 1995 and 2014.Results:In general, persistent smoking has decreased and late-pregnancy smoking rates are lower than daily smoking rates among all women. However, younger women are more likely to be persistent smokers regardless of pregnancy status. In Norway and Finland, persistent smoking was most common among young pregnant women and in Sweden there was an increased polarization between age groups. In Australia, a steady decrease in smoking rates appears to have stalled in younger pregnant women.Conclusion:Although smoking has declined substantially in recent decades, there are groups lagging behind this general trend. Young pregnant women are of particular concern in this respect. The possibility that these findings reflect the changing characteristics of younger pregnant women is discussed.Implications:This study puts recent trends in maternal smoking into a broader context by relating developments to changes in smoking rates among women in general. By using similar data from four countries we were able to follow changes in smoking rates “within” groups of women within the four countries without being limited by methodological problems related to cross-country or inter-group comparisons. We were above all able to show that aggregate data disclose the strong age gradient in maternal smoking habits.

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Since the mid-1980s public health in Russia and the Baltic countries has shown vast fluctuations. After a notable improvement during the second half of the 1980s, the early 1990s saw a dramatic deterioration with soaring mortality rates. This article describes some particularities of this rise and fall in public health, primarily concerning age, gender and cause of death, which have been remarkably similar in all four countries. The article identifies three phases in the development in alcohol policy and alcohol consumption, and in public health as such, during the past 15 years. There are many questions and few definite answers concerning the driving forces behind the recent public health turbulence, but developments are frequently related to two important events: the anti-alcohol campaign during the 1980s, and the economic and political transition following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Although the public health crisis is a result of unique historical experiences, there are general lessons to be learned, and the similarity in trends is noteworthy. Moreover, internationalization will enhance a certain convergence in consumption patterns and policy responses in the future, although local provisions will ensure a certain diversity in policies.

As several former East Bloc countries now become EU members, we will be witnessing the merger between quite diverse social, economic, and political cultures—including the encounter between divergent drinking patterns and alcohol policies. In 2000, a survey was carried out in six EU countries as part of the European Comparative Alcohol Study in which respondents were asked about drinking habits and other alcohol-related issues. Several of these questions were also used in a survey in the Baltic republics and Poland in 2001, thereby providing an opening for comparisons across the traditional east–west divide in Europe. This article provides a broad outline of the main findings in the comparison between the two groups of countries as European integration enters its next phase. The main focus is on frequency of drinking, prevalence of alcohol-related harms, and attitudes toward alcohol policy. Although country comparisons are at the center of attention, gender differences are also highlighted.