CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Pregnant women who reduce smoking to less than half a pack a day - even if they don't quit altogether - can significantly lower their risk of delivering premature babies, according to a new Charleston Area Medical Center/West Virginia University study.

Twenty-five percent of local women who smoked eight or more cigarettes a day had pre-term deliveries, the study found. But only 10 percent of women who smoked fewer than that number of cigarettes each day had premature babies.

Also, no women who smoked fewer than eight cigarettes delivered babies classified as "very premature," before 32 weeks.

The findings are especially important in West Virginia, where about 27 percent of women smoke during pregnancy - the highest rate in the nation.

"If we can get people even to decrease below a certain number of cigarettes a day, we can actually have an impact and decrease the pre-term delivery rate," said Byron Calhoun, a study author who works for CAMC and WVU's medical school Charleston division. "Nobody has ever shown that if you reduce like this, you can have a huge impact."

More West Virginia women are smoking while pregnant than at any time during the past decade, according to previous reports.

West Virginia's maternal smoking rate is nearly triple the national average, according to the state's Division of Health Statistics.

Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of underweight and premature babies - those born after less than 37 weeks. Children born from mothers who smoke also are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

About 250 pregnant women took part in the CAMC/WVU study.

Twelve women quit smoking altogether, 150 reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked, 27 increased and 61 didn't change.

Women who continued smoking eight or more cigarettes a day delivered babies that weighed 6.3 pounds on average. Women who smoked fewer than eight cigarettes had babies that weighed in at 7 pounds on average - a statistically significant difference.

The pregnant women were patients at CAMC Women and Children's Hospital's prenatal clinic. The women also agreed to take carbon monoxide tests to confirm the accuracy of their responses to survey questions about their smoking habits.

"People are really good about telling you," said Calhoun, vice chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at WVU-Charleston. "We proved we can trust what people tell us."

As part of CAMC's "Tobacco Free for Baby and Me" program, doctors, nurses and counselors talk to the pregnant patients about the dangers of smoking during pregnancy. Women are encouraged to stop smoking - or at least reduce the number of cigarettes they smoked.

With some pregnant women, it takes five or more visits to the clinic before they agree to quit or cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke, Calhoun said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Pregnant women who reduce smoking to less than half a pack a day - even if they don't quit altogether - can significantly lower their risk of delivering premature babies, according to a new Charleston Area Medical Center/West Virginia University study.

Twenty-five percent of local women who smoked eight or more cigarettes a day had pre-term deliveries, the study found. But only 10 percent of women who smoked fewer than that number of cigarettes each day had premature babies.

Also, no women who smoked fewer than eight cigarettes delivered babies classified as "very premature," before 32 weeks.

The findings are especially important in West Virginia, where about 27 percent of women smoke during pregnancy - the highest rate in the nation.

"If we can get people even to decrease below a certain number of cigarettes a day, we can actually have an impact and decrease the pre-term delivery rate," said Byron Calhoun, a study author who works for CAMC and WVU's medical school Charleston division. "Nobody has ever shown that if you reduce like this, you can have a huge impact."

More West Virginia women are smoking while pregnant than at any time during the past decade, according to previous reports.

West Virginia's maternal smoking rate is nearly triple the national average, according to the state's Division of Health Statistics.

Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of underweight and premature babies - those born after less than 37 weeks. Children born from mothers who smoke also are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

About 250 pregnant women took part in the CAMC/WVU study.

Twelve women quit smoking altogether, 150 reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked, 27 increased and 61 didn't change.

Women who continued smoking eight or more cigarettes a day delivered babies that weighed 6.3 pounds on average. Women who smoked fewer than eight cigarettes had babies that weighed in at 7 pounds on average - a statistically significant difference.

The pregnant women were patients at CAMC Women and Children's Hospital's prenatal clinic. The women also agreed to take carbon monoxide tests to confirm the accuracy of their responses to survey questions about their smoking habits.

"People are really good about telling you," said Calhoun, vice chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at WVU-Charleston. "We proved we can trust what people tell us."

As part of CAMC's "Tobacco Free for Baby and Me" program, doctors, nurses and counselors talk to the pregnant patients about the dangers of smoking during pregnancy. Women are encouraged to stop smoking - or at least reduce the number of cigarettes they smoked.

With some pregnant women, it takes five or more visits to the clinic before they agree to quit or cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke, Calhoun said.

"It's a teachable moment," he said. "They want to do what's best for the baby. If you don't keep asking them to stop smoking, they won't stop. It's just persistence and consistency with the message."

Calhoun and his colleagues plan to present their study at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual conference in Chicago this May.

Calhoun said the study's most significant finding may be the fact that no women who cut back to smoking fewer than eight cigarettes a day had extremely premature babies.

"This was really impressive," Calhoun said. "It may not hold over a larger sample, but we had nobody delivering [before 32 weeks]."

Such babies are more likely to die and require costly hospital care - about $250,000 per infant - in newborn intensive care units.

"If you just reduce four or five of these babies, that more than pays for the smoking cessation program," Calhoun said. "It's more than a million dollars saved."

Calhoun said the study's findings support the continuation of programs to help pregnant women reduce smoking.

Last year, the state Division of Tobacco Prevention, which helped fund the WVU/CAMC study, started an advertising blitz to educate mothers about the dangers of smoking to themselves and their babies. The media campaign included television, radio, billboard and newspaper advertisements.

The anti-tobacco agency also encourages pregnant women to call the state's tobacco "quitline," which offers free smoking cessation coaching. The quitline has a specialized program for pregnant women who smoke. Smokers' family members also are eligible for services.

About 5,500 babies are born to mothers who smoke while pregnant in West Virginia each year.

Many studies have pointed to maternal smoking as the most preventable cause of low birth-weight babies. Smoking also increases a pregnant women's risk of miscarrying by nearly 40 percent.

Bruce Adkins, who heads the state's tobacco prevention division, said even a few cigarettes a day can poison a fetus, causing brain and muscle damage.

"We emphatically say that the only way to completely reduce the risk of fetal injury is for the mother to completely quit, Adkins said.

To contact the state's tobacco quitline, call 1-877-966-8784.

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com">erice...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4869.