WOMEN WHO SPONTANEOUSLY QUIT SMOKING IN EARLY-PREGNANCY

Spontaneous quitters are prepregnancy smokers who quit by the time of their first antenatal visit. We recruited 192 self-declared spontaneou s quitters and 407 smokers at their first visit to the antenatal clini c at the Royal Women's Hospital during April, 1994-May, 1995. Spontane ous quitters made up 23% of prepregnancy smokers. Information about se lf-declared quitters and smokers was collected by self-completed quest ionnaires. Urine samples collected at the first visit and in late preg nancy were assayed for cotinine to validate smoking status. A cut-off urinary concentration of greater than or equal to 653 nmol/L cotinine was used to determine active smoking. At the first visit, 20% of the s elf-declared spontaneous quitters were smoking and by late pregnancy, regardless of their initial biochemically verified status, 27% were sm oking. Spontaneous quieters were different from women who said they we re still smoking at their first antenatal visit, in a range of demogra phic variables and measures of addictive behaviour.