👤 Andrzej Anholcer

The aim in this survey was analysis of contribution of exposure to tobacco smoke and selected socioeconomic factors in occurrence of low birth weight. The research was done on the group of 1528 pregnant women. Smoking habit was declared by 18.2% of women and passive exposure to tobacco smoke was stated by 31% of respondents. Significant association between active and passive smoking and socioeconomic status of respondents was observed. Cigarette smoking during pregnancy was the main cause of lower birth weight of newborns. The newborns of actively smoking mothers were lighter of about 332 g according to those ones of mothers who did not smoke and were not exposed to passive smoking, and were lighter than newborns of mothers who were not exposed to passive smoking of about 342 g. Show less

Despite of significant progress in the area of perinatal care, there have been numerous perinatal complications still existing. The health status of mother and newborn is affected by many factors, namely: socio-economical; medical prior to pregnancy and medical through the pregnancy; dietary customs, substance use, including tobacco smoking; health service quality; and risk factors that may occur through fertilization. The active and passive exposure to tobacco smoke in utero have been linked to numerous gestation and delivery complications, including low birth weight, preterm delivery and low Apgar score. In this survey, the awareness of health consequences of active and passive smoking in the population of pregnant women and access to the information of this consequence was assessed. Among of women smoking through their pregnancies, the only 19.7% got the information from their doctors about harmful effect of active and passive smoking, and 16.5% of respondents declared self-awareness on health effects of exposure to the tobacco smoke. Show less