title: [Neonatal effects of smoking habit during pregnancy and sociodemographic determinants in Barcelona, Spain].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Smoking during pregnancy poses a health risk for the fetus which may later extend to the child and adult, with higher probability of respiratory problems. The aim of this study was the to investigate the correlation between smoking during pregnancy and the neonatal characteristics and sociodemographic determinants of smoking habit during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study subjects were 419 mothers and their newborns in Barcelona, Spain. Data on smoking habits were collected using a structured questionnaire. We measured cotinine in umbilical cord blood as a biomarker of exposition to tobacco smoke. Concentrations of cotinine were determined using a radioimmunoassay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  29% interviewed mothers declared daily cigarette consumption during the third trimester of pregnancy, while the biomarker test showed that 34% mothers were smoking at the end of pregnancy. Smoking habit during pregnancy, assessed by means of either the questionnaire or the biomarker, correlated negatively with anthropometric parameters (weight, length and head circumference) of the newborn. The smoking habit was not associated with social class and age, although it was lower in primigravid mothers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Unlike other European countries, there is a widespread smoking consumption during pregnancy in Spain, regardless of the social class and maternal age. Reduction of both active smoking and exposition to environmental tobacco smoke represent key elements in the prevention of newborns' morbidity and mortality.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica. Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Roma. Italia.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pichini
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Puig
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: García-Algar O
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pacifici
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vall
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sunyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain