Smoking and Pregnancy: Women should be informed before the design

On tobacco and pregnancy, women should be informed well before conception and not once the baby is on the way, said Dr. Bruno Carbon (Saint-Antoine Hospital, Paris), at a press conference organized on the sidelines of the 29th National Day of the College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists French (CNGOF) in Paris.

Adverse pregnancy outcomes

A consensus conference on tobacco and pregnancy took place to make recommendations on the subject, said the specialist. "Thirty-seven percent of women smoke before pregnancy and continue for approximately 20%, even if they reduce their consumption," he relates.

During pregnancy, the deleterious effects of smoking are numerous:

- Occurrence of abruptio placentae, the source of bleeding complications and fetal distress;

- Low insertion of the placenta (placenta previa)

- Delay of intrauterine growth (although the causal link between smoking and low birth weight has not yet been established);

- Prematurity.

Before and after pregnancy, smoking is the primary risk factor for ectopic pregnancy and increases the risk of sudden death in an atmosphere of family smoking.

In practice, how?

"Generally, a woman who wants to stop smoking during pregnancy actually decreases the amount consumed (eg, from 20 to 4-5 cigarettes per day). However, even moderate consumption can cause deleterious effects, which the importance of a total smoking cessation, "said Dr. Carbon.

And include psychocomportementales aid (using the tobacco specialist and psychologist) and nicotine replacement products, "like the patch that can be taken during pregnancy, even if it is not reimbursed."

"It still seems difficult to put into practice is to avoid pregnant women to passive smoking," the obstetrician.

Another way is the quantification of tobacco consumption with carbon monoxide analyzers, which give a minute rate of CO in the blood and are relatively discouraging when smokers find the result! The only downside to their use: cost ...

"In practice, what seems most important is to encourage women to stop smoking before pregnancy begins and assist weaning in maternity with the help of a smoking addiction," concluded the expert.