What are the benefits of stopping smoking during pregnancy?

01

Benefit from stopping and benefit from a support programme

These are related but different questions. A 2026 Cochrane review of psychological and social support compares offers of support with usual care or other support. It reports possible improvements in low-birth-weight and neonatal intensive-care admission outcomes. It does not compare every person who actually stopped with every person who continued.

Participants may use support differently, and comparison groups may already receive care. Such trials cannot supply an individual benefit from a precise quit date. Nor do they show that every pregnancy outcome changes equally.

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02

Different birth outcomes do not move together

The current Cochrane public summary, published in April 2026 and searched to November 2025, says psychosocial support may reduce low-birthweight births, raise average birth weight and reduce neonatal intensive-care admissions. It describes probably little or no difference in stillbirths and an unclear effect on preterm births. These findings concern an offer of support, not a claim that stopping smoking is irrelevant to those outcomes.

A program can be offered without every participant stopping, and people in the comparison group can receive care or stop too. A small or uncertain difference between programs therefore cannot be read as ‘continuing to smoke and stopping are equally safe.’ The CDC's cessation guidance and the program review answer different questions.

There is also limited evidence about how the programs work for specific ethnic-minority and Indigenous populations. A pooled result does not establish identical benefits in every community or predict a particular birth. Ask what outcome a percentage actually describes before applying it to a personal decision.

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03

Earlier is preferable; later remains worthwhile

More time without smoke avoids more continuing exposure, but research does not provide a universal day when prior harm becomes reversible. Birth weight, prematurity and placental outcomes must remain separate. Self-report and changing smoke exposure also complicate estimates.

Discuss support now with maternity care, even after difficulty stopping or a return to smoking. In the UK, NHS information directs readers to a midwife, GP or specialist adviser for treatment questions. Other countries have their own arrangements. Household smoke-free rules remain relevant even when the pregnant person has stopped.

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