Perinatal outcome, maternal weight gain, cigarette smoking and social status in Jerusalem.

Past studies have reported consistent depression of birthweight among offspring of mothers who smoked during pregnancy, but depression of maternal weight gain and increase in perinatal mortality have been inconsistent; these have been generally associated with smoking among women of low social status. Among 8,263 pregnancies in West Jerusalem from 1974 to 1976 to women who were not religiously observant, birthweight was low among infants of smokers, but maternal weight gain was not depressed nor was perinatal mortality increased. Thus, the experience of these women in Jerusalem was similar to that of continental European, and affluent British and North American women. There appears to be no inevitable link between maternal smoking and depressed weight gain, nor with markedly increased perinatal mortality (however, since numbers of deaths were small, this observation requires replication). These results are consistent with the possibility that sustained weight gain among smokers may have contributed to the suppression of an effect of maternal smoking on increased perinatal mortality.