Kansas City Star: Study shows high rates of pregnant smokers in Missouri

By Kelsey Ryan and Andy Marso​

Missouri has one of the highest rates of maternal smoking in the country, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new report reveals that one in 14 women who gave birth in the U.S. in 2016, or 7.2 percent, reported smoking during pregnancy.

But in Missouri, that figure is much higher, with 15.3 percent of women reporting smoking during pregnancy.

“It’s pretty pervasive to have moms who smoke here in Kansas City and it is hard because there’s so much we don’t know still in terms of how to help them,” said Devika Maulik, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and an obstetrician-gynecologist at Children’s Mercy and Truman Medical Center who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

Smoking can have a huge impact on a pregnancy, Maulik said. It can increase the risk of pre-term birth, cause the fetus to be smaller, increase the risk of stillbirth, and increase the risk for SIDS after birth.

“Long-term data also show that babies born to smoking mothers are more likely to have asthma and obesity,” Maulik said.

Read the full article via the Kansas City Star. 

Learn more about services offered through the Fetal Health Center at Children's Mercy.