UK women's smoking patterns before, during and after pregnancy is published

A study by NPEU researchers Kate Fitzpatrick, Ron Gray and Maria Quigley exploring smoking patterns during pre-conception, pregnancy and the postnatal period has been published in PloSOne.  Analsying data on 10,768 mothers from the 2010 UK Infant Feeding Survey, the research found that smoking patterns were complex, but five distinct patterns were identified: "non-smokers" (74.1% of all women); "pregnancy-inspired quitters" who gave up during pregnancy and did not relapse postnatally (10.2%); "persistent smokers" who smoked before, during and after pregnancy (10.1%); "temporary quitters" who gave up during pregnancy and relapsed postnatally (4.4%); and "postnatal quitters" (1.1%).  Being a persistent smoker or relapsing postnatally were more common in women who lived with a partner or other household member who smoked.  For more details, read the paper.