Bias in maternal reports of smoking during pregnancy associated with fetal distress

BACKGROUND: Studies examining the adverse effects of smoking during pregnancy commonly use maternal reports. We hypothesized that if an adverse event occurred during pregnancy, women may underreport smoking. This study looked for bias in maternal report of smoking if fetal distress occurs. METHODS: Data were collected prospectively from patients attending The MotheRisk Program who smoked during pregnancy, and were categorized by delivery outcome, maternal and neonatal characteristics, and the raw number of cigarettes smoked per day during pregnancy reported at clinic and at follow-up. The difference between these two values was compared. RESULTS: 95 women had uneventful deliveries and 25 had fetal distress. Women who reported fetal distress decreased their report of smoking after delivery compared to their original report during pregnancy, whereas women with an uneventful labour did not (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that if an adverse pregnancy outcome occurs, mothers may tend to underreport their cigarette consumption.