DOI: 10.36347/SJMCR.2019.v07i11.011

Pages: 683-693

Introduction: Maternal smoking during pregnancy has long been proposed to be one of the most critical and preventable factor that can affect the intrauterine environment. Tobacco consumption when associated with pregnancy can lead to numerous adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. One of a particular significance is the low birth weight (LBW). Objectives: Our main objective was to study the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy in LBW versus normal birth weight babies of Syrian refugees at Rafic Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) from 2015 to 2016. Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study. Four hundred newborns were recruited from RHUH. One hundred LBW and three hundred normal birth weight (BW) Syrian newborns were recruited from RHUH during a twelve months period time between 2015 and 2016 and were considered as case and control, respectively. Results: The prevalence of smoking among the mothers of cases and controls was 22.3%. In our study population, smoking during pregnancy was associated with LBW (p < 0.05). Increased maternal weight, absence of economic support and inadequate iron intake during pregnancy were also found to be associated with LBW. Conclusion: Tobacco consumption during pregnancy was significantly associated (p < 0.05) with LBW in our study. This result suggests that specific interventions and screening for smoking during pregnancy can be powerful tools to educate pregnant women on the benefits of tobacco cessation.