Smoking
During Pregnancy--Rates Drop Steadily in the 1990's, but among Teen
Mothers Progress Has Stalled
For Release
Tuesday, August 28, 2001
Contact: NCHS Press Office
(301) 458-4800
CDC Office of Media Relations (404) 639-3286
E-mail: paoquery@cdc.gov
Smoking during
pregnancy in the 1990s. NVSR No. 49, No. 7. 15 pp. (PHS) 2001-1120.
View/download PDF 731
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The rate of smoking
during pregnancy dropped 33 percent between 1990 and 1999, so that in 1999
just over 12 percent of all women reported smoking during their
pregnancies, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The greatest success in reducing smoking was for
women in their late twenties and early thirties, where there was over a 40
percent drop since 1990.
"Mothers are far
more likely to have healthier babies when they make the smart decision not
to smoke during pregnancy," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said.
"While the overall trend is encouraging, it's clear that we must do
more to ensure young women understand smoking's real health risks for them
and for their children."
Teenagers were more
likely than women of any other age to smoke while pregnant. After
experiencing a dramatic 20-percent decline in the first part of the
decade, smoking rates among pregnant teenagers–unlike women of all other
ages--increased by 5 percent from 1994 to 1999. The highest rate in 1999
(19 percent) was for women 18-19 years of age
"More women are
making the right choice and are not smoking during pregnancy, yet too many
women–almost a half million in 1999–smoked while pregnant," said
Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, CDC Director. "The best advice we can give all
women is to begin their pregnancies as healthy non-smokers," he said.
"Smoking During
Pregnancy in the 1990s," from CDC’s National Center for Health
Statistics, presents an analysis of the current patterns and trends in
smoking by age, race and ethnic origin on a national basis as well as a
state-by-state breakdown of smoking rates for each year and the percent
change from 1990 to 1999. CDC tracks smoking rates among pregnant women
because of the serious consequences to their babies, such as low
birthweight, growth retardation, and infant mortality. Other highlights of
the report show:
Women of all race
and ethnic groups were less likely to smoke during pregnancy in 1999
than they were in 1990. Of all groups, American Indian women still
have the highest rate of smoking during pregnancy (20 percent) and had
the smallest reduction in that rate. Smoking rates are still high for
non-Hispanic white mothers (16 percent) whose rate dropped by 25
percent.
Rates were
lower for Hispanic and non-Hispanic black women during pregnancy and
those rates were further reduced by about 45 percent during the 1990s.
Already the lowest, smoking rates during pregnancy for Asian and
Pacific Islander women were cut by 47 percent, to a smoking rate of 3
percent by 1999.
Non-Hispanic
white teens had the highest rate overall at 30 percent and represent
one in seven of all women who smoked during pregnancy.
There is great
variation in smoking rates within racial and ethnic groups as well.
Puerto Rican mothers were more likely to smoke during pregnancy (11
percent) than any other Hispanic group. Hawaiian mothers have higher
rates (15 percent) than any other Asian and Pacific Islander women.
The percent of
mothers who smoked during pregnancy in 1999 ranged from about 2
percent for those with four or more years of college to 29 percent for
those who did not complete high school. Nearly one-half of
non-Hispanic white women with 9-11 years of education smoked during
pregnancy.
The report
includes data for most States, the District of Columbia and New York
City, all of which reported a drop in smoking rates from 1990 to 1999.
The District of Columbia reported the largest single decline, a 77
percent drop, followed by Massachusetts and Arizona which cut their
rates by more than 50 percent.
New York City,
the District of Columbia, Texas, Arizona, and Hawaii have the lowest
smoking during pregnancy rates--below 8 percent in 1999.
Women who
smoked during pregnancy were more likely to have a low birthweight
infant (12.1 percent) compared to women who did not smoke (7.2
percent) in 1999.
Data on smoking during
pregnancy are based on information reported on birth certificates filed in
state vital statistics offices and reported to CDC through the National
Vital Statistics System. Currently the birth certificate obtains
information on whether the mother smoked during pregnancy and the number
of cigarettes per day. Because of the importance of this information,
questions on tobacco use are being improved and expanded to provide more
detailed information on smoking patterns immediately before and during
pregnancy.
Copies of the report
can be viewed or downloaded without charge from the CDC Home Page at This
report updates a comprehensive review of smoking and pregnancy presented
in the 2001 Surgeon General’s Report on Women and Smoking, issued in
March 2001. For more information on women and smoking go to the CDC Website.
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This page last reviewed
October 06, 2006
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