Trends in research on smoking among woman during pregnancy and the postpartum period in Japan : A literature review from 1995 to 2007

Abstract

A thorough review of the pertinent literature on smoking trends among women during pregnancy and the postpartum period was conducted to elucidate the trends and current status of smoking of woman during pregnancy and the postpartum period in Japan. A total of 93 studies from the literature were reviewed. These reports were classified into three themes as follows: 1.There were 60 on the influence of smoking. 2.There were 29 regarding the smoking status of women. 3. There were 29 dealing with how to help female smokers quit smoking. The smoking rate before pregnancy ranged from about 20% to 40%, while during pregnancy the rate decreased from about 5% to about 12%. However, it rose again to about 13% at five months after birth, and to then about 18% at 1 year and six months after birth. These findings showed that there are a lot of women who begin smoking at an early time after birth. The factors related to the ability to quit smoking are feelings of self-efficacy and the number of cigarettes that women smoked before pregnancy. The reasons for quitting smoking after birth were found to be related to the smoking of either friends or partners. The reasons for quitting smoking among women were found to be as follows: the physiologic changes that are experienced during pregnancy, advice from friends and family, and child care stress. There have so far only been a few studies regarding support programs to help pregnant woman stop smoking; however, there tend to be many more studies published about postpartum woman than about pregnant woman. In the future, it will be necessary to support of smoking cessation programs for pregnant or postpartum women, their family and their friend. It should also be further examined in studies regarding intervention programs to help such individuals quit smoking.