Smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy: an epidemiological study in Tasmania

Smoking and alcohol ingestion were analysed in 5100 women confined in Tasmania in 1981. This represented 70% of the total number of confinements. The incidence of smoking throughout pregnancy was 33.6%, and 2.7% of the women studied smoked at some time during pregnancy. Alcohol consumption in pregnancy was recorded for 55.9% of patients. However, 99% were only occasional drinkers. There was a statistically higher incidence in smoking habits in the age group 20 years and under, the unmarried and the lower socio-economic classes, whereas the reverse was true for alcohol consumption. The analysis provides a basis for the groups toward which programmes should be directed.