Methods: Using the question from the Vermont Birth Certificate regarding smoking during the 3 months prior to pregnancy and the Vermont Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), compared the smoking rates of women who became pregnant to overall female smoking by age and education level. Because the BRFSS only contains interviews of women aged 18+, we excluded women under 18 who became pregnant.

Results: In 2003–2005, 23.5% of pregnant Vermont women smoked during the three months prior to becoming pregnant, compared to 23.0% of all Vermont women of child bearing age (18-44). But smoking rates varied greatly by age group when comparing women who became pregnant to the overall female population. Women age 18-24 who became pregnant were much more likely to smoke than women aged 18-24 overall (44.0% vs. 26.4%), while women aged 35+ who became pregnant were much less likely to smoke (10.7% vs. 20.2%). When looking at education level, women who became pregnant with less than a high school education smoked at a slightly higher rate (61% vs. 55%) and women who became pregnant with at least 4 years of college smoked at a much lower rate (4% vs. 11%).

Conclusions: While women who became pregnant smoke at about the same rate as the overall female population, women who became pregnant smoke at much higher rates in younger age groups and smoke less in older age groups and higher education status.