Short-term Health and Economic Benefits of Smoking Cessation: Low Birth Weight

If only 1% of pregnant women who smoke would quit smoking, it would prevent 1,300 low-birth-weight babies from being born and save $21 million in direct medical costs in the first year alone. This was the conclusion of researchers who analyzed the medical costs of low birth weight caused by smoking. The total cost to treat low birth weight caused by smoking was $263 million.
Objectives. To estimate excess direct medical costs of low birth weight from maternal smoking and short-term cost savings from smoking cessation programs before or during the first trimester of pregnancy. Methods. Simulations using data on neonatal costs per live birth. Outcome measures are mean US excess direct medical cost per live birth, total excess direct medical cost, reductions in low birth weight, and savings in medical costs from an annual 1 percentage point drop in smoking prevalence among pregnant women. Results. Mean average excess direct medical cost per live birth for each pregnant smoker (in 1995 dollars) was $511; total cost was $263 million. An annual drop of 1 percentage point in smoking prevalence would prevent 1300 low birth weight live births and save $21 million in direct medical costs in the first year of the program; it would prevent 57 200 low birth weight infants and save $572 million in direct medical costs in 7 years. Conclusions. Smoking cessation before the end of the first trimester produces significant cost savings from the prevention of low birth weight. Pediatrics 1999;104:1312-1320; tobacco, pregnancy, economics, smoking cessation.
ABBREVIATIONS. LBW, low birth weight; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; IUGR, intrauterine growth retardation; RR, relative risk; VLBW, very low birth weight; MLBW, moderately low birth weight; PAR, population attributable [...]