One in nine Danish women smoke during pregnancy, reports Metroxpress.
In Zealand, the number is even higher with one in seven smoking.
Affects baby’s organs
According to Dorte Bertelsen, a midwife at Rigshospital in Copenhagen, a foetus cannot get enough oxygen when its mother smokes and it negatively affects the baby’s weight and development of organs.
“Pregnancy usually motivates people to stop smoking, so those who won’t are obviously the most addicted,” Mads Lind, a senior adviser at the Danish Health Authority, told Metroxpress.
Figures from the Health Authority show only one third of pregnant women manage to quit smoking.
Two thirds continue smoking
The proportion of pregnant women who smoke has remained stable over the past five years at about 11 percent nationwide.
According to Lise Krusaa – the head of Stoplinien, a group that helps smokers to quit – a typical pregnant smoker is less than 20 years old, has a low education, and never wanted to get pregnant in the first place.
