The Impact of Smoking and Substance Abuse on Maternal Health

The death rate that is associated with smoking is enormous. In the United States, between 1998 and 2000, public health officials estimated that 170,000 women died each year from causes related to smoking. Tobacco use has contributed to cardiovascular, neoplastic, and cerebrovascular diseases which have considered leading causes of death among women since the 1930s until the present. The American Cancer Society estimated that, in 1991, approximately 67,000 women died of lung and bronchical cancer compared to 40,200 who died of breast cancer. Death risks from cardiovascular, neoplastic, and cerebrovascular diseases among women 35 to 84 are approximately 90% higher for women who smoke as opposed to non-smoking women.