Objective: To establish trends in the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy between 2001 and 2010 and to relate these to differences in educational gradient in the Netherlands.
Design: National surveys.
Method: In 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2010, 28,720 questionnaires were handed out to mothers with infants aged up to 6 months at periodic check-ups at well baby clinics. A total of 16,358 (57%) mothers completed this questionnaire.
Results: Between 2001 and 2010, the number of women who smoked daily during their pregnancy dropped by half. In 2010 6.3% (95% CI: 5.0-7.6) smoked. The prevalence of smoking was highest among mothers with a low level of education (13.8% in 2010; 95% CI 9.3-18.4%) and lowest among mothers with a high level of education (2.4% in 2010; 95% CI 1.2-3.6). Four percent of pregnant smokers stopped smoking during pregnancy. Women limited the median number of ten cigarettes per day during the six months prior to pregnancy to five per day during pregnancy. The difference in prevalence of smoking in pregnancy between women with a low level of education and those with a high level of education was 18.9% in 2001 and 11.4% in 2010. The difference in smoking prevalence between mothers with an average level of education and mothers with a higher level education was 6.5% in 2001 and 5.4% in 2010.
Conclusion: Between 2001 and 2010, the percentage of women who smoked throughout pregnancy dropped by half. In 2010, 6.3% of Dutch pregnant women were still smoking. The prevalence of smoking differed strongly between different levels of education and this difference did not change during the study.