Statement of the Public Affairs Committee of the Teratology Society on the importance of smoking cessation during pregnancy

Janulewicz for supportive “reference-mining ” activities. Reports on the harmful effects of smoking during pregnancy began to proliferate during the 1980s. Since that time, numerous studies have firmly established the risks to the fetus that are associated with exposure. In 2001, the Surgeon General Report argued that the established adverse health consequences of smoking on women's health "compel(s) the Nation to make reducing and preventing smoking one of the highest contemporary priorities for women's health " (USDHHS, 2001). Herein, the Public Affairs Committee of the Teratology Society argues that the nation must make the reduction of women's smoking during pregnancy one of the highest priorities for fetal and child health. In the U.S., cigarette smoking is the single largest preventable risk factor for pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality (Dempsey and Benowitz, 2001). In this report, we first examine the current prevalence of smoking during pregnancy and its negative effects on the fetus and child. We then examine the benefits of smoking cessation during pregnancy and the success rates and characteristics of women who are able to quit smoking during pregnancy. We then address the causes of the adverse