Queensland mums are still smoking during pregnancy

Ten thousand pregnant Queensland women have admitted to smoking during pregnancy despite extensive campaigns targeting mothers-to-be and an overall drop in maternal smoking rates.

The data comes as part of a new study released today in the Medical Journal of Australia which found smoking rates had decreased in expecting mothers from 20 per cent in 2006 to 15 per cent in 2012.

Cancer Council spokesman Katie Clift said the decline came down to a combination of plain packaging laws, retail display bans and campaigns focusing on the dangers of smoking while pregnant.

"We expect to continue witnessing a decline in female smoking rates in Queensland," she told the Courier-Mail.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said maternal smoking results in children with lower birth weights and adverse developmental outcomes.

"Despite this, one in six Queensland women reported smoking at some time during their pregnancy," she said.

The study of almost of 800,000 mothers also found a decline in smoking mothers in NSW from 17 per cent in 2001 to 12 per cent in 2009.

Source: Courier Mail

Author: Mitchell Ryan, Approving Editor: Simon Black