Pregnant women quit smoking; what about fathers? Survey study in Bursa Region, Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate maternal and paternal smoking habits during pregnancy and determine their correlation with pregnancy complications and newborn status.


METHODS
The study included 499 pregnant women who delivered at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Uludag University School of Medicine, over a period of one year. Women were interviewed about their smoking habits before and during pregnancy. They were also asked about the smoking habits of their spouses. The relationship between smoking habits and pregnancy complications and newborn status was researched. The outcomes measured included pregnancy complications, gestational age at the onset of labor, Apgar scores during labor, and fetal birth weight and height.


RESULTS
The percentage of maternal smoking before pregnancy was 26.5% (n=132) and decreased to 9.8% (n=49) at the end of pregnancy, with 52.5% (n=262) of the fathers who continued to smoke at home during their wife's pregnancy. Low birth weight and preterm delivery rate were significantly higher in maternal (n=15 [30.6%], and n=12 [24.5%], respectively) and paternal smoking groups (n=52 [22.4%] and n=54 [23.3%], respectively). Paternal smoking had no effect on intrauterine growth retardation (n=10 [4.3%]) and prenatal death (n=4 [1.7%]), although maternal smoking had such an effect (n=7 [14.3%] and n=3 [6.1%], respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal smoking is a major risk factor for preterm delivery, low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, and intrauterine death, but paternal smoking also carries risk for the fetus. During perinatal care, we should educate the expectant parents about the side effects, not only of maternal, but also of paternal smoking.
Uncu
Yesim
Y
Yesim Uncu, Uludag University, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine , Gorukle/Bursa 16069, Turkey. yesimuncu@uludag.edu.tr
Ozcakir
Alis
A
Ercan
Ilker
I
Bilgel
Nazan
N
Uncu
Gurkan
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D008875:Middle Aged; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology