Exposure to Second-hand Smoke During Pregnancy and Preterm Delivery

Background: prematurity is an issue related to increasing the neonatal morbidity and mortality and smoking pregnant women cause the risk of low birth weight and prematurity increase, compared to non-smoking ones. objectives: this study investigates second-hand smoke (shs) exposure’s effects over pregnant women on gestational age and birth weight. materials and methods: in this descriptive-analytic study, 205 women referred to both public and private hospitals in the third trimester were questioned about second-hand smoke (shs) exposure during pregnancy. in addition to birth weight and gestational age, other variables including mother’s education and job and sex of the newborns were also assessed. results: of all 205 women, 43 (20.97%) women exposed to shs during pregnancy and 162 (79.02%) women did not. in shs exposure group, 11 infant (25.6%) and in non- shs exposure group, 17 infant (10.5%), were born prematurely (< 37 weeks) (p = 0.01). also birth weight of newborn in non-shs exposure group was 118 gram more than other group but the differences were not significant (p = 0.09). conclusions: our findings showed that the secondhand smoke (shs) exposure of pregnant women may be significantly associated with early preterm delivery.