Cigarette Smoking in Pregnancy Down Among Mothers | Healthiest Communities Health News

The number of mothers who smoked cigarettes at any time during their pregnancy fell by 41% from 2016 to 2021, according to new research, with the steepest proportional declines seen among those younger than 20 and among Asian mothers.

Based on data gleaned from birth certificates, an analysis published Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics shows the number of mothers who gave birth and who smoked during pregnancy decreased from 282,712 to 168,086 between 2016 and 2021. The share of mothers who smoked during pregnancy declined by 36% – from 7.2% in 2016 to 4.6% in 2021 – with an annual average drop of 8% and the largest drop occurring from 2020 to 2021 at 16%.

Cigarette smoking among mothers declined across all age groups over that six-year span, ranging from a 6% downtick among mothers 40 and older to a 47% drop among mothers under age 20, with the share falling from 8.5% in 2016 to 4.5% in 2021 for that younger group.

Declines also occurred across all racial and ethnic groups, with the report finding the largest proportional decrease among Asian mothers at 50%, from 0.6% in 2016 who had smoked during pregnancy to 0.3% in 2021. The percentage of Black mothers who smoked during pregnancy decreased 37%, from 6% to 3.8%. White mothers saw a 36% drop – from 10.5% to 6.7% – and Hispanic mothers saw a 33% drop, from 1.8% to 1.2%.

American Indian or Alaska Native mothers had a 24% decline in cigarette smoking during pregnancy, from a share of 16.7% in 2016 to 12.7% in 2021, while smoking among Native or Other Pacific Islander mothers dropped 36%, from 4.5% to 2.9%.

State smoking percentages among mothers during pregnancy ranged from 0.8% in California to 18.2% in West Virginia in 2021.