Effect of nicotine to birth weight among pregnant women exposed to tobacco smoke

The prevalence of smoking continues to increase in both men and women. This study aimed to assess the correlation between the cotinine serum level of the passive smoking pregnant mothers and the saliva and the weight of the newborn babies. The case control study was conducted in Teaching Networking Hospitals in Makasar from April, 2016 through February, 2017. The case group comprised the aterm pregnant mothers who would deliver in Teaching Networking Hospitals in Makasar City and who were exposed to the cigarette smoke (passive smokers). The control group comprised the aterm pregnant mothers who would deliver in the hospital without being exposed to the cigarette smoke. The mothers who met the inclusive and exclusive criteria were asked to fill in the questionnaires in order to collect the characteristic data and knowledge. The cotinine level of the mothers was assessed from blood sample and then analyzed using ELISA method, whilst of the babies was taken from the saliva immediately after birth. The statistical analysis was conducted using Pearson’s test and t-independent test aided by statistical software. The analysis result indicated that from the 55 samples of both case and control groups there was no correlation between the cotinine serum level of the passive smoking pregnant mothers and the body weight of the newborn (p=0.692). Neither was any correlation between the cotinine serum level of the passive smoking pregnant mothers and the saliva cotinine level of the newborn (p=0.716), and between saliva cotinine level of the newborn and their body weight (p=0.346). In conclution the cotinine serum level of the passive smoking mothers and saliva of the newborn had no correlation with the birthweight of the newborn.