Childhood hardship, maternal smoking, and birth outcomes: a prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To determine the association between type, chronicity, and severity of childhood hardships and smoking status during pregnancy, preterm birth (PTB), and low birth weight (LBW).

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Setting

The National Child Development Study, a nationally representative study of births in Great Britain in 1958.

Participants

Four thousand eight-hundred sixty-five women with at least 1 singleton live birth.

Main exposures

Hardship during childhood, indicated by several variables, including financial/structural hardship, lack of parental interest in education, family dysfunction, violence/mental health issues, and family structure.

Main outcome measures

Smoking in pregnancy, LBW, and PTB.

Results

A consistent and graded

SUBMITTER: Harville EW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3506121 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature