Smoking in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study in China

Findings on smoking among pregnant women were mostly from high income countries and were rarely from China. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of smoking and its influencing factors among pregnant women living in China.

A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in this study. Data from pregnant women were collected in this study from June to August 2015 from 5 provinces of mainland China. A total of 2345 pregnant women were included in this study, the mean age of the participants was 28.12 years (SD 4.13).

About 82.9% of smoking women quit smoking after they were pregnant. The prevalence of smoking among pregnant women was 3.8%. Among the participants, 40.0, 30.7, 1.8, 29.9, 0.8, 31.4, 31.2, and 26.7% had husbands, fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law, fathers, mothers, colleagues, friends, and relatives, respectively, who were smokers. Compared with pregnant women of basic education level (junior middle school or below), those of the higher education level (undergraduate or above) were at higher risk of smoking (OR, 5.17; 95% CI, 2.00–13.39). Compared with pregnant women from rural areas, urban pregnant women were less likely to be current smokers (OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.32–0.94). Compared with pregnant women whose mothers-in-law did not smoke, those whose mothers-in-law smoked were at higher risk of smoking (OR, 4.67; 95% CI, 1.87–11.70). However, compared with pregnant women whose husband did not smoke, those whose husband smoked were not significantly at higher risk of smoking (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.73–1.73).

Most of smoking women quit smoking after they became pregnant. Tailored intervention programs to reduce smoking in pregnant women should focus on those with higher education level, from rural areas, and pregnant women whose mothers-in-law smoke.