Tobacco availability increases smoking rates in pregnant women

Pregnant women are more likely to smoke if they live in areas with a number of cigarette selling shops, according to a new study.

Conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, the findings appeared in the journal Tobacco Control.

Pregnant women living in Scottish neighbourhoods with the highest availability of tobacco products are 70 per cent more likely to smoke than if they live in areas where no tobacco is sold, researchers say.

The team examined maternity records - which include details of expectant mothers' smoking behaviour - for the more than 700,000 births in Scotland between 2000 and 2015. They focused on women who had at least two babies during the period and moved neighbourhood between pregnancies.

The data was analysed in tandem with information on all the tobacco outlets in Scotland. Researchers found that the risk of women smoking during a pregnancy increased in line with the local availability of tobacco products. Read Complete Article

Business Standard