Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has published a report, which notes that 17.3% of women who gave birth in 2003 smoked during pregnancy. The report noted that one in five Australian women smoked during pregnancy.

The rates were found to be much higher in aboriginals and teenage mothers than woman who gave birth later in life. “Smoking during pregnancy was most prevalent in teenage mothers, 42 per cent, compared to 10.9 per cent of mothers aged 35 years and older,” said Elizabeth Sullivan, from AIHW’s National Perinatal Statistics Unit.

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