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Abstract Environmental tobacco smoke is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant. The exposure of nonsmokers to ETS is referred to as passive smoking, involuntary smoking, or secondhand smoke. Passive smoking is the combination of two forms of smoke from burning tobacco products; mainstream smoke, or the smoke that is exhaled by the smoker and side stream smoke, or the smoke coming from smoldering tobacco between puffs. When a cigarette is smoked, about one-half of the smoke generated is SS and the other half is MS. Pregnancy represents a period of particular vulnerability, during which exposure to tobacco smoke may adversely affect both the mother and her developing fetus. Some of ETS toxic compounds are known to cross the placental barrier and result in a variety of adverse outcomes such as preterm delivery, low birth weight, congenital anomalies and stillbirth. Nurses may have a particular role to avoid tobacco exposure to pregnant women. At the individual level, they can educate the population on the harms of exposure to SHS. Nurses can also help them by giving advice, guidance and answers to questions related to tobacco use and its health effects. The aim of this study was to identify the association between passive smoking and pregnancy outcome. The study comprised a convenient sample of 300 parturients who were selected from the labor unit of El-Shatby Maternity University Hospital. Inclusion criteria included age from 20-35 years, no previous history of medical diseases, normal pregnancy course, willing to participate in the study. |