Tobacco smoking (up to 10 cigarettes daily) and lung functions in pregnant women.

The main objective of this paper was to study the effect of tobacco smoking (up to 10 cigarettes daily) on lung functions of healthy pregnant women as part of a large scale foetus antenatal care programme. Seventy eight pregnant women with no history and clinical evidence of pulmonary, cardiac, obstetrical or gynecological diseases were subjected to a comprehensive functional investigation of breathing. The women, all in the tenth lunar month of pregnancy, were divided into four categories: non-smokers, ex-smokers that have quitted smoking after diagnosing of pregnancy, with a mean of 2.0 +/- 1.2 pack-years of smoking (mean +/- SD), and current smokers with 3.1 +/- 1.9 pack-years of smoking. The results obtained show that light smoking causes no essential changes in the lung function parameters of pregnant women with the exception of the reduction tendency of the parameters of airway conductance and the strength of the respiratory muscle (PImax and PEmax).