SMOKING CESSATION IN WOMEN WHO INITIATE A WANTED PREGNANCY - EFFECTS OF SMOKING ON LABOR

Motivation to quit and nicotine dependency were compared in women seen at a smoking cessation clinic. Among the 188 study subjects, 150 want ed to quit smoking before initiating a pregnancy and 38 were already p regnant. There were no unwanted pregnancies. All the subjects had been told by their general practitioner or gynecologist that pregnancy or use of an oral contraceptive increased the adverse health effects of s moking. Only three of the 38 pregnant women were able to quit smoking, versus 132 of 150 non-pregnant women. This striking difference was pe rhaps due to the absence of nicotine replacement therapy in the pregna nt women ; psychological factors (e.g.) less motivation or greater str ess or boredom in the pregnant women) may also have played a role. The impact of smoking on labor and delivery was assessed by comparing 75 smokers (0-10 cig/d or 10-20 cig/d) and 75 nonsmokers ; all the subjec ts in this study had a normal pregnancy and were selected at random. R esults showed that smoking was associated with greater difficulties du ring labor and delivery but not with higher maternal or infantile mort ality rates.