Smoking during pregnancy and after delivery decreased moderately but significantly from 2000 to 2010, while the prevalence of smoking before pregnancy dropped only slightly in that time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The prevalence of smoking during pregnancy went from 13.2% in 2000 to 10.7% in 2010, and the prevalence of smoking after delivery dropped from 18.9% to 15.9%. In comparison, the prevalence of smoking during the 3 months before pregnancy made a nonsignificant drop from 23% in 2000 to 22.5% in 2007, and rose to 23.2% in 2010, according to data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS).
The CDC report noted the Healthy People 2020 goal of reducing the prevalence of prenatal smoking to 1.4% and suggested that, "at the current pace ... it could take another 100 years for the United States to reach this goal" (MMWR Surveillance Summaries 2013;62[SS06]:1-19).
For 2010, the data from 27 PRAMS sites nationwide – 26 states and New York City -– represent approximately 52% of live births.