Smoking during teen pregancy reduces birthweight

May 2008
P3


Teenagers who smoke while pregnant
are more likely to have low birthweight
(LBW) babies, a study from the
University of New South Wales in Sydney
has found.
Analysis of data from 25,828 births over
a 4-year period showed that the prevalence
of LBW among smoking teenage mothers
was 9.9 percent, compared to six percent
among their non-smoking counterparts.
The study found, however, that teenage
mothers who quit smoking during the
second half of pregnancy had babies with
normal rates of LBW.
“Health professionals need to target
smoking cessation at all contacts with
pregnant women who continue to smoke,”
the authors advise. [Med J Aust 2008 Apr
7;188(7):392-6]