Dewan N, Brabin B, Wood L, Dramond S, Cooper C
Tropical Child Health Group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK.
Public Health. 2003 Jan;117(1):31-5. doi: 10.1016/s0033-3506(02)00003-3.
To compare the effect of smoking on the birthweight-for-gestational-age curves of teenage and adult primigravidae.
A retrospective analysis of the perinatal database at the Liverpool Women's Hospital for the years 1997-1999 for teenage and adult primigravidae.
Records on 1157 primigravidae were available. There were no significant differences between the mean birthweight (3220 g +/- 666 vs 3244 g +/- 680, P = 0.43) and the proportion with low birthweight (LBW) babies (8.9% vs 10.6%, P = 0.39) between teenage and adult primigravidae, respectively. The percentage of women who smoked increased from the middle class (Townsend score -6- - 3) to the working class group (Townsend score +4- + 12) for both teenagers (33.3-51.3%) and adults (6.9-29.6%). The mean birthweight of babies of smoking mothers was significantly lower than for non-smoking mothers (3112 g +/- 639 vs 3327 g +/- 663, P = 0.00002). The birthweight-for-gestational-age pattern was lower at all gestational ages for smoking mothers in both the teenage and adult groups. Risk of LBW was significantly increased in teenagers who smoked (10.8% vs 3.9%, P < 0.01), but not in adult smokers.
Lower birthweights at all gestational ages were observed in babies of teenage and adult mothers who smoked.
