THE NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL

Supporting smoking cessation in pregnancy – action is urgently needed Nick Wilson, George Thomson and Philippa Howden-Chapman Smoking in pregnancy is a crucial health issue, with both immediate and downstream health and social effects. Smoking has serious adverse impacts on fetal, infant and child health as well as ongoing effects on the health of the mother and other people in the household. It is also an important issue for those wanting to reduce health sector costs, given the evidence for short-term economic savings following reductions in smoking among pregnant women.1 In New Zealand, smoking rates continue to be high in the principal child-bearing years – 33 % amongst women aged 25 to 34 years – and particularly high for Maori and Pacific women – 48 % and 53 % respectively in the same age group.2 In this issue of the Journal, McLeod et al publish a valuable study on factors associated with smoking at conception and during pregnancy.3 Even allowing for the lower response rate from women of lower socioeconomic status who smoked, the