Abstract

Background: Adverse effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) during pregnancy are associated with small-for-gestational age babies, increased perinatal mortality and morbidity, and early preterm delivery.

Objective: (1) To assess prevalence of passive smoking during pregnancy. (2) To assess the effects of exposure to ETS on outcome in pregnancy.

Materials and Methods: It is a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted at a district hospital from June 2014 to November 2014. Three hundred non-smoking women (20–35 years) delivering a singleton live baby were studied. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. SPSS version 16.0 was used for the analysis of data. Chi-square was used for categorical variable and unpaired student’s t-test for continuous variable for comparison.

Results: Among the 300 women studied, 26% (78) were exposed to ETS. Those exposed to ETS, there was a significantly higher incidence of preterm births (32%) and small-for-gestational age babies (27%) compared to the unexposed. The mean birth weight of babies born to exposed mothers was 282 g less compared to those born to non-exposed mothers.

Conclusion: The awareness about the harmful effects of passive smoking is poor. Evaluation of ETS exposure and steps to avoid it during pregnancy should be an important part of antenatal care.

Key words: Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), preterm, LBW, SGA, smoking-related knowledge