Smoking during pregnancy and maternal weight gain

Abstract

The effects of smoking by pregnant women on the progress of their pregnancy and the development of the fetus have been the subject of many studies [6,10,9,12]. The aims of the present work are to observe the effect of smoking on the mother's gain in weight during pregnancy and to contribute towards an answer in the present-day debate on the mechanism whereby smoking affectsthebirthweight of the child. l Selection of the casesThe subjects of the present study were a group under study of 105 smokers and a control group of 100 non-smokers. Curriculum The study group.105 cases were selected from the total number of women attending the prenatal clinic regularly and the resulting births that took place at the Antoine Beclere Maternity Hospital in 1974. The women in the group smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day throughout their pregnancy. This was ascertained at the first attendance at the pre-natal clinic and was confirmed at the following attendances. Those patients who stopped smoking during pregnancy were eliminated from the study. .2 The control group.This consisted of 100 women who did not smoke during pregnancy and who were chosen at random from the total number of non-smokers. The twin pregnancies were eliminated.