Prevalencia de tabaquismo durante el embarazo en mujeres chilenas de bajo nivel socioeconómico

Abstract

Tobacco smoking has increased among young women in reproductive age from developing countries but its prevalence during pregnancy is virtually unknown. This study describes the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy in a random sample of 400 mothers of low socioeconomic status from South-Santiago, Chile. The prevalence of active tobacco smoking during pregnancy was 28%. Fifty-nine percent of mothers who had never smoked were exposed to intra-domiciliary tobacco smoke during pregnancy. There was no significant difference in birth weight, height, and Apgar score between exposed and non-exposed groups. However, the newborns from mothers who were active smokers previous to pregnancy presented lower birth weight (p = 0.04) and higher frequency of low weight for gestacional age (p = 0.02) than newborns from non-smoking mothers. The prevalence of tobacco smoking during pregnancy in mothers of low socioeconomic status is as higher as that reported from developed countries. A high proportion of mothers (smokers and non-smokers) are passively exposed to tobacco smoke at home during pregnancy