---
title: "Psych News Alert: New Mothers Should Be Asked About Smoking Habit"
description: "Credit: Rakim/Shutterstock New mothers should be asked whether they smoke cigarettes and, if so, how many a day. A study reported by Medscap..."
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/smokeF_75681499-Jun-24-2025-03-40-04-8479-PM.jpg
---

 5/23/11 12:00 AM

# New Mothers Should Be Asked About Smoking Habit

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

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| --- |
| Credit: Rakim/Shutterstock |

New mothers should be asked whether they smoke cigarettes and, if so, how many a day. A study reported by Medscape's Alice Goodman from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 59th Annual Clinical Meeting indicates that smoking may be a sign that the mothers are suffering from postpartum depression. The finding came from a survey from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, a project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, depression was strongly associated with the number of cigarettes smoked; it was found in 13% of nonsmokers, 22% of light smokers (10 or fewer cigarettes per day), and 29% of those who smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day.

The study was based on a survey of a random sample of 8,074 new mothers in Maryland who delivered babies between 2004 and 2008. Participants completed the survey between 2 and 9 months after delivery.

More information on postpartum depression is posted at [http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/45/18/18.1.full](http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/45/18/18.1.full) and [http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/42/13/1.1.full](http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/42/13/1.1.full)

[postpartum depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/postpartum-depression), [smoking](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/smoking)

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