DETERMINING FACTORS RELATED TO SMOKING AN D ITS ABANDONMENT DURING PREGNANCY IN AN URBAN LOCALITY IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

A cross-sectional study of 873 pregnant women attending a prenatal car e clinic was undertaken in Pelotas (Southern Brazil), over a one-year period (1989-90) for the purpose of identifying possible risk and prog nostic factors for smoking during pregnancy. The prevalence of smoking at the beginning of pregnancy was 40.8%. The smoking habits of the wo man's mother and partner, as well as her educational level, were assoc iated with smoking at the beginning of pregnancy. Smoking in the partn er was associated with an approximately two-fold increase in the risk of smoking. The smoking interruption rate, until the 15th-22nd gestati onal week, was of 35.6%. Family income, smoking habits of woman's moth er and partner, age at starting, duration and intensity of the woman's habit were all associated with the interruption during pregnancy. The above results were not affected by adjustment for confounding variabl es made through stratified analysis.