Maternal smoking and cannabis use during pregnancy and infant outcomes

J Perinat Med. 2020 Feb 25;48(2):168-172. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2019-0422.

Abstract

Background Our aim was to determine the prevalence of tobacco smoking and e-cigarettes and cannabis use during pregnancy, whether these were influenced by ethnicity, and their relationship to perinatal outcomes. Methods A study was carried out in 4465 infants whose mothers delivered during 2017 and 2018. Self-reported maternal smoking, e-cigarette and cannabis use at booking were recorded. Outcome measures were birthweight and head circumference z-scores and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Results Two hundred and five women reported smoking cigarettes (4.7%), five were using e-cigarettes (0.11%) and 106 were using cannabis (2.43%). Women were most likely to smoke if young (15-19 years old) or from a mixed-race or White background. Cigarette smoking was associated with a lower mean z-score for birthweight (-0.587 vs. -0.064) and head circumference (-0.782 vs. -0.157) (both outcomes P < 0.0001). Young, mixed-race women were most likely to be both smoking and using cannabis during pregnancy and their infants had a lower birthweight mean z score (-0.989 vs. -0.587, P = 0.028) and head circumference z score (-1.33 vs. 0.782, P = 0.025) than cigarette use alone. Conclusion Young, mixed-race women were most likely to be both smoking and using cannabis during pregnancy and should be targeted for cessation programmes.

Keywords: birthweight; cannabis; cigarette smoking; e-cigarettes; head circumference.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Birth Weight*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Intensive Care, Neonatal / statistics & numerical data
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Outcome / epidemiology*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Smoking / ethnology*
  • United Kingdom / epidemiology
  • Young Adult