Active Smoking and Associated Behavioural Risk Factors before and during Pregnancy - Prevalence and Attitudes among Newborns' Mothers in Mures County, Romania

Abstract

SUMMARYBackground and Aim: Smoking before, during and after pregnancy leads to detrimental outcomes on maternal and foetal health and represents an important public health issue. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and correlates of smoking before and during pregnancy in a sample of Romanian women.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among mothers (N = 1,278) in three maternity hospitals in Tirgu-Mures, Romania, immediately after childbirth, in 2014. We evaluated the prevalence of smoking before and during pregnancy and used binary logistic regression to assess the influence of socio-demographics and other health behaviour factors in three groups of women: non-smoking pregnant women, women who continued smoking during pregnancy, and smokers who quit during pregnancy.Results: 30% of the interviewed mothers were smokers prior to pregnancy, of whom 43.3% continued smoking during pregnancy. Women with a family income of less than 100 Euro/month (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 1.02-8.83) and those who were unemployed (OR = 13.2, 95% CI: 3.90-44.79) had increased odds of continued smoking versus quitting during pregancy in multivariable analyses. Women who continued smoking during pregnancy were also more likley to be of lower socioeconomic status than never smokers (OR = 14.1, 95% CI: 4.97-39.6).Conclusions: A high percentage of women of reproductive age smoke and continue to smoke despite their knowledge about risks of smoking during pregnancy. Smoking prior to and during pregnancy is predominantly associated with lower socioeconomic status. Women with limited economic means should be a high priority target group for smoking cessation interventions.

Awareness of Pregnant Women About Routine Applied Screening Tests and Supportive Treatments in a University Hospital

“…In studies conducted in England and Scotland, it was reported that one in four women smoked before or during pregnancy, and one in eight women continued smoking during their pregnancy. In a study conducted in Romania, it was reported that 30% of the interviewed mothers were smoking before pregnancy and that 43.3% of them continued smoking during pregnancy (13,14). In a study conducted with 513 pregnant women in Italy, 22.3% of the participants continued to smoke during their pregnancy and claimed that they continued smoking during their pregnancy because they received very little information about this subject during their examination (15).…”

Associations between lifestyle factors and smoking status during pregnancy in a group of Romanian women

“…In our research area, the rate of tobacco use by the pregnant women was 12.9%, whereas the cessation rate during pregnancy was 56.7% (Ruta et al, ). Although smoking has been identified as a major preventable cause of the health inequalities experienced by women with low education and lack of social support, the results of interventions have been various and underwhelming because disadvantaged women are often the least capable of changing the environmental and cultural factors that put them at unequal risk (Graham, Francis, Inskip, & Harman, ).…”

Influence of maternal smoking during pregnancy on birth outcomes

“…Universal screening protocols need to be established for all pregnant women and women of childbearing age. Finally, prevention efforts and intervention programmes need to be expanded to reach the broader population of women of childbearing age (19,20).…”