Some figures
According to the Canadian Community Health Survey conducted in 2017-2018, just over one in ten Quebec women (11%) report having smoked during their pregnancy, while the Canadian prevalence is 8% (Centre de Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, 2020). Actual tobacco use among pregnant women, however, could be greater than this data indicates. Indeed, according to several authors, the social stigma surrounding smoking during pregnancy encourages many women not to disclose their tobacco use (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2009; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2014; Greaves et al., 2011). It is estimated that almost a quarter of pregnant women who smoke do not disclose their smoking status to their healthcare professional (Diamanti et al., 2019).
However, data from 2006-2007 reveals that more than half of pregnant Canadian women who used tobacco had stopped smoking before their third trimester of pregnancy (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2016).
Regarding exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy, there is no data to estimate its extent among Canadian women.
Who is more likely to smoke?
Some women are more likely to smoke during pregnancy. The factors below are believed to be associated with a greater prevalence of smoking among pregnant women (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2016; Claire et al., 2020; Greaves et al., 2011; Greaves et al., 2019; United States Public Health Service Office, et al., 2020):
- young age : for example, in 2017, the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy was 15% among Canadian women aged 25-29 while it was 7% among women aged 30-34 (Monitoring Center and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, 2020);
- a low level of education : in 2017, 28% of Canadian women who had not completed high school reported having used tobacco products during pregnancy compared to 5% of women with at least a post-secondary certificate or diploma (Monitoring Center and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, 2020);
- a low level of income ;
- multiparity : women are more likely to smoke during their subsequent pregnancies than during their first pregnancy;
- a level of dependence high tobacco : women who smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day are much more likely to continue smoking than those who smoke less than 5 per day;
- high levels of stress or depression ;
- cohabitation with smokers, including the co-parent;
- alcohol or drug use ;
- experiencing or having experienced domestic violence.
