Skip to main content
Download PDF
  • Research article
  • Open access
  • Published:

The association of maternal-fetal attachment with smoking and smoking cessation during pregnancy in The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth volume 20, Article number: 741 (2020) Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 10 April 2021

This article has been updated

Abstract

Background

Smoking in pregnancy constitutes a preventable risk factor for fetal/child development and maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) seems to contain a momentum that can break the chain of adverse outcomes by promoting maternal prenatal health practices. This study aimed to explore the association of MFA with smoking at any time during pregnancy and smoking cessation in early pregnancy, and the modifying role of MFA on the expected effects of education and prenatal psychological distress (PPD) on prenatal smoking behavior.

Methods

The pregnant women (n = 3766) participated in the The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study in Finland between December 2011 and April 2015. The binary outcomes, smoking at any time during pregnancy and smoking cessation in early pregnancy, were obtained from self-reports at gestational weeks (gwks) 14 and 34 and The Finnish Medical Birth Register. MFA was assessed with the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS) at gwks 24 and 34. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between MFA and maternal prenatal smoking behavior.

Findings

The prevalence of smoking was 16.5%, and 58.1% of the smokers quit smoking during pregnancy. The independent associations of total MFA scores with prenatal smoking behavior were not established (aOR = 1.00-1.02, multiplicity adjusted p > 0.05). A higher score in the altruistic subscale of MFA, Giving of self, associated with a higher probability of smoking cessation (24 gwks: aOR = 1.13, 95% CI [1.04, 1.24], p = 0.007, multiplicity adjusted p = 0.062; 34 gwks: aOR = 1.17, 95% CI [1.07, 1.29], p < 0.001, multiplicity adjusted p = 0.008). The modifying effect of MFA on the observed associations between PPD and smoking in pregnancy and between maternal education and smoking in pregnancy / smoking cessation in early pregnancy was not demonstrated.

Conclusions

The altruistic dimension of maternal-fetal attachment associates with an increased probability of smoking cessation during pregnancy and therefore strengthening altruistic maternal-fetal attachment may constitute a promising novel approach for interventions aiming at promoting smoking cessation during pregnancy.

Peer Review reports

Background

Fetal exposure to maternal tobacco smoking is one of the key risk factors for neonatal health [1,2,3] and impairs health and achievements in childhood and later in the course of life [2, 3]. Globally, the prevalence of smoking in pregnancy is highest in the European and American regions, around 6–8% [4], and affects nearly 15% of unborn children in Finland [5]. Inequality in health and attainment originates early since the exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy accumulates in more vulnerable populations in our society [1, 5,6,7]. The association between educational disadvantage and maternal prenatal smoking has been widely recognized [1, 7, 8]. In Finland, low maternal education constitutes the strongest predictor of smoking in pregnancy [9]. While educational attainment is a well-established and robust predictor of persistent smoking during pregnancy, underlying mechanisms are not well-elucidated [7]. However, extensive literature has shown that lower educational attainment constitutes a powerful marker of psychosocial and familial risk [7]. For example, educational attainment is closely related to heritable personality traits related to self-control [10]. Thus, low educational attainment may be a marker for both familial risk [11] and difficulty adapting behavior to environmental contingencies. This possibility is supported by one prior study linking lower self-directedness to persistent smoking during pregnancy [12]. Further, several previous studies have revealed a deleterious association between prenatal psychological distress (PPD) and smoking habits during pregnancy [6, 13,14,15,16]. Unfortunately, a tendency towards co-occurrence of prenatal smoking, stress and socioeconomic disadvantage have been found to indicate an accumulative burden for maternal and child health [1, 17].

Prenatal parenting, which hereby refers to the expectant mother’s attachment towards her unborn child, has been considered a counterforce for prenatal adversities and protective for child development, especially in populations at risk [18]. Stronger maternal-fetal attachment (MFA), defined by Cranley (1981) as “the extent to which women engage in behaviors that represent an affiliation and interaction with their unborn child”, is associated with favorable maternal prenatal health behavior [19, 20], neonatal [19] and child developmental outcomes [21]. In a recent meta-analysis, maternal-fetal attachment has been reported to be the strongest predictor for positive maternal prenatal health practices with a large effect [20]. Previous studies have shown that pregnant women experiencing stronger attachment towards the fetus are less likely to smoke during pregnancy [19, 22]. In addition, stronger MFA has associated with lower salivary cotinine levels and a tendency to smoke a lower maximum number of cigarettes per day [23]. Pregnant smoking women considering smoking cessation have been found to experience stronger attachment towards the fetus than pregnant smokers in the pre-contemplation stage [24]. The stronger altruistic dimension of MFA especially, that is “Giving of self”, has predicted a higher probability of smoking cessation among pregnant smokers [25]. This specific aspect of MFA reflects the mother’s feeling of the pregnancy being worth all the effort, an acceptance of body changes and image during pregnancy, a willingness and commitment changing habits, following a healthy diet, and giving up unhealthy behaviors, essentially for the sake of the unborn child [26]. It is noteworthy that more profound prenatal attachment may also protect the woman from depressive symptoms in late pregnancy [27], which, in turn, may contribute to abstinence from tobacco smoking [16, 28]. In addition, MFA may have potential to modify mechanisms underlying the adverse association between low maternal educational attainment and smoking behavior in pregnancy. It is of significance that MFA, in contrast to maternal educational attainment, can potentially be affected through prenatal interventions [29].

Importantly, smoking in pregnancy constitutes a preventable risk factor in the intergenerational transmission of health related inequality [1,2,3] and MFA seems to contain a momentum that can break the chain of adverse outcomes by promoting maternal prenatal health practices [19, 20, 23, 25] and fetal/child developmental trajectories [19, 21]. Nevertheless, research to date has been based on a few studies with relatively small samples, and the significance of MFA in the determination of prenatal smoking behavior and the potential implication for smoking cessation interventions has not yet been extensively studied. In addition, MFA constitutes a promising candidate target for prenatal interventions for other reasons also. Tobacco use disorder in pregnancy has been found to associate with impaired postnatal parenting, such as an increased risk for a harsh parenting style and child maltreatment [30]. It is of note that a stronger MFA has been found to predict better parent-child interaction quality [31] and postpartum maternal sensitivity [32] which predicts child attachment security [33]. Thus, intervening to increase MFA during pregnancy has the potential to address both direct teratologic effects of prenatal tobacco exposure and impaired maternal parenting behaviors that may amplify childhood adversity of children exposed to maternal prenatal tobacco smoking.

The first aim of the current study was to investigate the association of MFA with maternal tobacco smoking at any time during pregnancy and smoking cessation in early pregnancy. We hypothesized that a stronger MFA associates with a lower risk of smoking in pregnancy and an increase in smoking cessation during pregnancy. Second, we presumed that a stronger MFA protects and promotes maternal and child health by beneficially modifying the effects of PPD and maternal education on prenatal smoking behavior, especially in the presence of maternal educational disadvantage and mental health related adversity. Therefore, we explored the modifying effect of MFA on the associations between maternal education/PPD and smoking/cessation of smoking during pregnancy. The hypotheses were pre-defined in the Open Science Framework portal (https://osf.io/v4nd3/).

Methods

Research design

The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

The FinnBrain Birth Cohort was collected in the Southwest Finland and on Åland Island in Finland between December 2011 and April 2015 (www.finnbrain.fi). Pregnant women were screened for eligibility at a screening ultrasound at the 12th gestational week (gwk). A normal ultrasound screening result and the ability to respond to the study questionnaires in Finnish or Swedish were the criteria for eligibility. The present study was cross-sectional, and linked the survey data with the data obtained from The Finnish Medical Birth Register maintained by The National Institute of Health and Welfare in Finland. A written informed consent was obtained from all participants. The Ethics Committee of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland approved the The FinnBrain Cohort Study.

Participants

During the collection of the birth cohort sample, 8895 pregnant women attended the ultrasound screening visits in the geographical area, and 65% (5790 of 8895) of them were informed about The FinnBrain Cohort Study. Among the eligible women (n = 5790), 3808 (65.8%) agreed to participate. Only the women with a singleton pregnancy were included in the present study, and the total number of pregnant women surveyed was 3766.

By their delivery date, 7.6% (288 of 3766) of the participants had chosen to discontinue. The discontinuation rate did not differ between the non-smokers and the smokers (6.9% vs. 5.4%, F[1] = 1.8, p = 0.179, respectively), or between those who had quit smoking and the persistent smokers (6.5% vs. 3.1%, F[1] = 3.5, p = 0.063, respectively). Those participants and the pregnant smokers who had completed the questionnaire measure of MFA at least once during pregnancy were included in the imputation and regression models (24 gwks: n = 2858 [76%] and 34 gwks: n = 2836 [75%]; 24 gwks: n = 429 [70%] and 34 gwks: n = 426 [70%], respectively).

Measures

Dependent variables

Smoking at any time during pregnancy and smoking cessation in early pregnancy

The data on smoking at any time during pregnancy was derived by combining the survey self-reports and the records in The Finnish Medical Birth Register. The pattern of tobacco smoking was surveyed twice during pregnancy. At 14 gwks, the women responded to whether they had smoked during the index pregnancy. At 34 gwks, the participants reported whether they had been smoking during the last 20 weeks. The Finnish Medical Birth Register contained data on smoking in pregnancy in the format: no prenatal smoking, smoking cessation in the first trimester (≤ 12 + 0 gwks), continuation of smoking after first trimester (≥ 12 + 1 gwks) and no data available. We created a binary outcome variable Smoking at any time during pregnancy which was affirmative when the participant had self-reported or had a register record of smoking during the index pregnancy. Second, we constructed a binary outcome variable Smoking cessation in early pregnancy. The pregnant smoker was categorized as a persistent smoker if there was a register record on a continuation of smoking after the first trimester (≥ 12 + 1 gwks) or an affirmative survey self-report on smoking in pregnancy at 34 gwks.

Independent variables

Maternal-fetal attachment

MFA was assessed with the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS), which is a 24-item self-report questionnaire [26]. The items are scored on a five-point scale (1–5) with a total score ranging from 24 to 120, a higher sum score indicating a stronger attachment towards the fetus. MFAS contains five subscales: “Role taking”, “Differentiation of self from fetus”, “Interacting with the fetus”, “Attributing characteristics to the fetus” and “Giving of self” [26]. The MFAS questionnaire was administered to the participants at the 24th and 34th gwks. The MFAS scores were included in the statistical models as continuous variables. Reliability of the MFAS was found to be good (Cronbach’s α = 0.85). For the MFAS subscales, internal consistencies varied between poor and good (“Role taking”, Cronbach’s α = 0.81–0.83; “Differentiation of self from fetus”, Cronbach’s α = 0.50–0.53; “Interacting with the fetus”, Cronbach’s α = 0.55; “Attributing characteristics to the fetus”, Cronbach’s α = 0.64–0.66; and “Giving of self”, Cronbach’s α = 0.51–0.52).

Additional independent variables

Maternal age, education, single parenthood, parity and concurrent symptoms of depression and anxiety were identified from previous literature and adjusted to address any potential confounding [5, 7,8,9, 15, 16, 28, 34]. The information concerning maternal education was collected with a self-report questionnaire at the 14th gwk, and classified into: low [high school/vocational, < 12 years], middle [polytechnics], and high [university]. The binary variable describing single parenthood was affirmative in cases where the participant did not have an intimate relationship based on the survey self-report or she was not cohabiting based on the register data. Parity (primiparous or multiparous) and maternal age were derived from The Medical Birth Register. Symptoms of PPD were assessed with the Edinburgh Pre/Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) [35] and with the anxiety subscale of the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) [36, 37] at the 24th and 34th gwks. The symptoms of PPD were included in the statistical models as continuous variables. The EPDS cut-off score ≥ 10 was used to describe the sample in terms of prevalence of prenatal depression [38]. The internal consistencies for the EPDS (Cronbach’s α = 0.84) and for the anxiety section of SCL-90 (Cronbach’s α = 0.84–0.85) were found to be relatively good.

Analyses

In the background variables, the comparisons between the groups with nominal variables were performed using a Pearson’s chi-square test and for normally distributed continuous variables using a two-tailed independent sample’s t-test. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the group differences in MFA and PPD. A one-way ANOVA was performed to investigate the level of MFA by the level of maternal education (low, middle, high).

Multiple imputation (30 imputed datasets) was used to treat the missing values in the predictor variables. The MFAS scores were imputed by the factors (subscales), and the total sum scores were calculated based on the imputed factors. Separate imputation models were constructed for smoking and smoking cessation during pregnancy. All the variables included in the analysis models were also included in the imputation models.

Next, logistic regression models were used to estimate the association of MFA (both the total and the subscale scores of MFAS at the 24th and 34th gwks) with the binary dependent variables, smoking at any time during pregnancy and smoking cessation in early pregnancy, while controlling for maternal age, educational status, single parenthood, parity and concurrent depressive and anxiety symptoms. Finally, to explore whether MFA modifies the associations between maternal education/PPD and smoking behavior in pregnancy, we added MFAS × Education and MFAS × PPD interactions, respectively, in the models. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted using an SPSS version 24, and the multiple imputation and the statistical modeling were performed with R 3.5.2. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. For the main analyses, the correction for multiplicity was performed separately for each of the four hypotheses. Correlations between the MFAS sum and subscale scores at both trimesters (r = 0.28 – 0.83) were taken into account in the corrections by calculating the effective number of tests [39] and using that as the correction factor for the p-values. The correction factor thus reduced from 12 to 8.84 in the main effect analyses (hypotheses 1 and 2) and from 8 to 5.24 in the interaction analyses (hypotheses 3 and 4).

Results

Descriptive sample characteristics

The prevalence of smoking in pregnancy was 16.5% (612 of 3698). Among the women who were smoking at the time of conception, 58.1% (354 of 609) quit smoking during pregnancy, while 41.9% (255 of 609) continued smoking beyond 12 − 14 gwks. The data concerning smoking in pregnancy was missing for 1.8% (68 of 3766) of the participants, and regarding smoking cessation for 0.5% (3 of 612) of the pregnant smokers. The smoking women were younger than the non-smokers, Myears = 28.2(SD 5.2) vs. Myears = 30.7(SD 4.5) respectively, t(799.1) = 11.1, p = 0.000. A difference in age was not displayed between those women who quit smoking in early pregnancy compared to the women who continued smoking in late pregnancy Myears = 28.4(SD 5.0) vs. Myears = 27.8(SD 5.5) respectively, t(511.6) = 1.6, p = 0.12. The socio-demographic characteristics of the sample are presented in Table 1. The descriptive statistics regarding MFA and PPD are reported in Tables 2 and 3. The group means of maternal-fetal attachment differed significantly by the level of maternal education (low, middle, high) (MFAS 24 gwks: F(2, 2603) = 10.6, p < 0.001; 34 gwks: F(2, 2444) = 4.0, p = 0.019. Post hoc comparisons demonstrated the statistically significant difference in the MFAS total score between the low level and the high level of maternal education (M = 87.7, SD = 10.2 vs. M = 85.6, SD = 10.3, p < 0.001, respectively) and between the middle level and the high level of education (M = 87.5, SD = 10.9 vs. M = 85.6, SD = 10.3, p = 0.001, respectively) in the second trimester. In addition, differences were observed in the level of MFA between the low and the high level of maternal education (M = 92.5, SD = 10.2 vs. M = 91.4, SD = 10.3, p = 0.046, respectively) and between the middle and the high level of maternal education (M = 92.5, SD = 10.3 vs. M = 91.4, SD = 10.3, p = 0.047, respectively) in the third trimester.

Table 1 Descriptive characteristics of the pregnant non-smokers and smokers, and those who quit smoking and those who continued
Full size table
Table 2 The descriptives statistics of MFA and PPD, and the comparisons between the pregnant smokers and the non-smokers
Full size table
Table 3 The descriptives statistics of MFA and PPD, and the comparisons between the smokers who quit and the persistent smokers
Full size table

The association of maternal-fetal attachment with smoking at any time during pregnancy and smoking cessation in early pregnancy

We performed the binary logistic regression analyses to estimate the risk of smoking while pregnant (Table 4). We did not find evidence for an association between the MFAS total score at the 24th and 34th gwks and smoking in pregnancy (aOR = 1.00–1.003, multiplicity adjusted p > 0.05) or the MFAS subscales and smoking in pregnancy (aOR = 0.97–1.04, multiplicity adjusted p > 0.05) while controlling for maternal age, education, single parenthood, parity, and concurrent symptoms of PPD.

Table 4 The results from the logistic regression models estimating the association between MFA and smoking at any time during pregnancy and the interaction effects MFAS × Education [low, middle, high] and MFAS × PPD on smoking at any time during pregnancy
Full size table

In the sample of pregnant smokers, we performed the binary logistic regression analyses to evaluate the relationship between MFA and cessation of smoking during pregnancy (Table 5). We did not observe evidence for the association between MFA (the total sum scores of MFAS at the 24th and 34th gwks) and quitting smoking during pregnancy (aOR = 1.02–1.02, multiplicity adjusted p > 0.05). However, a marginally significant association between the MFAS “Giving of self” subscale and smoking cessation in early pregnancy was demonstrated at 24 gwks (β = 0.13, aOR = 1.13, 95% CI [1.04, 1.24], p = 0.007, multiplicity adjusted p = 0.062). A one unit higher score in the MFAS subscale “Giving of self” at 34 gwks associated with an increased probability of smoking cessation (β = 0.16, aOR = 1.17, 95% CI [1.07, 1.29], p < 0.001, multiplicity adjusted p = 0.008). There was no evidence of associations between the other subscales of MFAS and smoking cessation during pregnancy (aOR = 0.99–1.05, multiplicity adjusted p > 0.05).

Table 5 The results from the logistic regression models estimating the association between MFA and smoking cessation in early pregnancy and the interaction effect MFAS × Education [low, middle, high] on cessation of smoking in early pregnancy
Full size table

Maternal-fetal attachment modifying the effects of maternal education and prenatal psychological distress on smoking and smoking cessation during pregnancy

A lower level of maternal education and having more symptoms of prenatal depression associated with a higher risk of smoking in pregnancy. The participants who suffered from a higher level of depressive symptoms were more likely to smoke during pregnancy (aOR = 1.05–1.06, p = 0.002–0.004). Further, the probability of smoking in pregnancy was considerably lower among the women with a middle level (aOR = 0.28–0.29, p < 0.001) or high level of education (aOR = 0.17, p < 0.001) when compared with the probability of prenatal smoking among the women with the lowest educational level. The association between anxiety symptoms and smoking in pregnancy was not observed. Therefore, the interaction effects MFAS × Education [low, middle, high] and MFAS × PPD [EPDS] on smoking in pregnancy were estimated (Table 4). Our preliminary findings suggested that a higher level of MFA associated with a decrease in the risk of smoking among the women with a middle level of education when compared to the risk of smoking among the women with low (β = -0.03, aOR = 0.97, 95% CI [0.95, 0.996], p = 0.026, multiplicity adjusted p = 0.137) or high education (β = -0.04, aOR = 0.96, 95% CI [0.93, 0.998], p = 0.038, multiplicity adjusted p = 0.199). The effect of maternal education on smoking in pregnancy did not exhibit any difference in the way it was dependent on MFA among the women with a high education compared to the women with a low education (β = 0.006, aOR = 1.006, 95% CI [0.98, 1.04], p = 0.698, multiplicity adjusted p = 1.00). However, the evidence for the modifying effect of MFA on the association between maternal education and smoking in pregnancy was not considered sufficiently convincing because the results did not survive the corrections for multiple comparisons (multiplicity adjusted p > 0.05). Further, the modifying effect of MFA on the strength or direction of the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and smoking in pregnancy was not demonstrated.

In the population of pregnant smokers, the probability of smoking cessation during pregnancy was higher among the women with a middle level of education (aOR = 2.20–2.45, p = 0.008–0.021) and the women with a high level of education (aOR = 3.15–3.23, p = 0.007–0.008) when compared with the probability of smoking cessation among the women with the lowest educational level. However, we did not find evidence of an association between PPD (neither EPDS nor SCL-90 Anxiety subscale) and smoking cessation during pregnancy (aORs = 0.96–1.00, p = 0.179–0.965). Therefore, we estimated only the interaction effect of MFAS × Education [low, middle, high] on smoking cessation (Table 5). We did not confirm that the relationship between maternal education and smoking cessation during pregnancy was modified depending upon the level of MFA.

Discussion

The aim of this study was to assess the role of MFA in prenatal smoking habits in a large population-based pregnancy cohort study with over 3700 participants. In this study, we did not find evidence of an association between the total score of MFA and smoking at any time during pregnancy or smoking cessation in early pregnancy. Nevertheless, a higher level of the altruistic dimension of MFA, Giving of self, associated with an increased probability of smoking cessation in early pregnancy. The second question in this study sought to determine the modifying role of MFA on the expected effects of maternal education and PPD on prenatal smoking behavior. The evidence for the modifying effect of MFA on the association between maternal education and smoking at any time during pregnancy was not considered sufficiently convincing as the result did not survive the correction for multiple comparisons. Further, we did not confirm that the association between maternal education and smoking cessation in early pregnancy was modified depending upon the level of MFA. The modifying effect of MFA on the strength or direction of the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and smoking in pregnancy was not demonstrated.

Our findings did not provide evidence for the association between MFA and maternal prenatal smoking behavior, and therefore MFA seems not to play such a significant role in the determination of smoking in pregnancy. This finding is contrary to previous studies suggesting that MFA significantly associates with positive maternal prenatal health practices [19, 20, 22], also with building healthier smoking habits [22, 23, 25]. Nevertheless, our most important finding suggested a one unit stronger altruistic attachment, that is a one point higher score in the Giving of self subscale of MFAS, associated with a 1.13–1.17 fold increase in the odds of smoking cessation in early pregnancy. Qualitative studies have revealed that the expectant mother’s willingness to do her best for the unborn child facilitates smoking cessation in pregnancy [40]. In addition, altruistic caregiving has been found to be the most significant life experience promoting abstinence in the context of addictions [41]. In the recent comprehensive review and meta-analysis maternal-fetal attachment was not yet recognized as a predictor of smoking cessation during pregnancy [16]. Our finding addressing the beneficial association between maternal altruistic attachment towards the fetus and cessation of smoking during pregnancy replicates the previous finding of Massey et al. (2015) and contributes to prior knowledge by providing empirical evidence that especially maternal desire and endeavor to help the fetus offers a motivational stance for quitting smoking in pregnancy.

The total level of MFA was equal among the non-smokers and the smokers, but the women who smoked scored higher in some of the subscales of MFAS. Our study revealed that of the women who smoked those who were able to quit smoking scored higher in the one subscale of MFAS, “Giving of self”. Prior research has addressed the importance of this particular dimension of MFA as a predictor of smoking cessation [25]. Interestingly, pregnant smokers considering smoking cessation have been shown to display a stronger attachment towards the fetus than pregnant women who have never smoked [24]. This finding has been explained by cognitive dissonance caused by an awareness of the harmful effects of smoking on the fetus and the awakening of prenatal attachment; this results in a tendency to resolve the contradicting situation by preparing to quit smoking, which may affirm attachment [24].

Our descriptive sample characteristics revealed that the smoking women, and particularly the persistent smokers, constitute high-risk populations among pregnant women as regards the level of PPD, the prevalence of prenatal depression and maternal educational attainment. Our study confirmed the adverse associations of low maternal education and prenatal depressive symptoms with smoking in pregnancy, which is consistent with the previous literature [5, 7, 8, 28, 34]. The finding to emerge from our analyses is that other underlying mechanisms, for example those related to maternal educational disadvantage and poor maternal prenatal mental health as regards symptoms of depression, seem to have a stronger relationship with prenatal smoking habits than MFA. In contrast to earlier findings [16, 42], the adverse association between prenatal anxiety and smoking habits during pregnancy was not substantiated in the current study. Further, no evidence for the detrimental associations between PPD and smoking cessation in early pregnancy was detected in the current study, which is contrary to previous findings [16]. However, the lower academic achievements of the expectant mothers associated with a lower probability of smoking cessation in early pregnancy which accords with previous studies [7, 16]. To our knowledge, prenatal parenting – MFA – has not previously been evaluated as a potential moderator of the effects of maternal education and PPD on smoking behavior in pregnancy. The current study found that the level of MFA was the highest among the women with the lowest educational attainment. Previous studies investigating the level of MFA in relation to maternal education have reported inconclusive findings [43, 44]. Our preliminary finding suggested that stronger MFA associated with a decrease in the risk of smoking in pregnancy among the women with a middle level of education when compared to the risk of smoking among the pregnant women with a low or high education level. However, the evidence for the modifying effect of MFA on the association maternal education and smoking in pregnancy was not considered convincing as the result did not survive the correction for multiple comparisons. Further, we did not confirm the modifying effect of MFA on the strength or direction of the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and smoking in pregnancy or the association between maternal education and cessation of smoking in early pregnancy. Therefore, the potentially protective moderation effect of MFA was not demonstrated in the presence of educational disadvantage or prenatal depressive symptoms, both of which presented with independent associations with smoking behavior during pregnancy. These negative findings may refer to the fact that MFA is not sufficiently efficient to modify the associations between maternal education/PPD and maternal smoking behavior in a protective manner. For several reasons, it is necessary to interpret the result carefully. First, our variable describing the participants’ educational attainment was relatively rudimentary. In addition, a cross-sectional study is not able to consider longitudinal interferences. Smoking in pregnancy has been perceived as an unfavorable cascade starting from the mother’s childhood or adolescence [45,46,47,48] and strongly predicted by socioeconomic factors and environmental influences [7, 9, 46, 47, 49], which precede an awakening of MFA. On the other hand, the transition to parenthood may already inspire a change in smoking habits in the preconception period; many smokers, especially women with higher education, quit smoking just before pregnancy [50, 51].

The FinnBrain Birth Cohort has shown to be well representative of the source population [52]. The survey data suggested a somewhat lower prevalence of prenatal smoking than in the general population of the same hospital district (12.7% vs. 16.6%, respectively) [52]. Therefore, the register data was linked with the survey self-reports leading to an approximately similar prevalence of smoking in pregnancy than presented in the general population of the same area [52] and in the Finnish national statistics [53]. Unfortunately, smoking in pregnancy is still found to be considerably more common in Finland than in the other Scandinavian countries [5] and in many European regions [4]. The present study showed a cessation rate of 58%, which is slightly higher than the cessation rate of 39–49% presented in the Finnish national statistics [53] and a frequent cessation rate of less than 50% reported in the previous population based studies [4]. A relatively high level of maternal education and attendance in prenatal care may have contributed to the high cessation rate [16].

Strengths and limitations

A large sample size and a study design integrating the data from a prospective birth cohort survey with good quality register data can be considered the important strengths in the present study. However, several limitations should be noted. Due to the cross-sectional design a conclusion regarding causality cannot be drawn.

Our results, mainly negative, may also be partly related to limitations in the methodology. Despite the many years of research, there is still a lack of consensus about the construct of MFA and its assessment [54]. In this study, MFA was evaluated with a self-report measure, which primarily delineates behavioral aspects of prenatal attachment [26, 55]. Consequently, we may not have been able to capture the phenomenon of MFA completely [54,55,56], and the question of how critical a role the awakening of MFA plays in prenatal smoking behavior remains partly open. In addition, the subscales of MFAS have been criticized [55, 57, 58]. In the present study, the internal consistencies of some of the MFAS subscales were unfortunately found to be relatively weak which may, to some extent, undermine our results.

In addition, we may not have been able to control for all the confounding factors. The mother’s altruistic personality traits have shown to promote smoking cessation during pregnancy [59], but maternal personality characteristics were not controlled for in this study. Addictiveness of tobacco smoking and the severity of nicotine dependence may override the health promoting potential of MFA as tobacco products are considered to exert the strongest dependence potential among addictive substances [60]. Heavier smoking and more severe nicotine dependence have shown to predict a lower rate of smoking cessation during pregnancy [16, 25]. Prenatal smoking behavior was not biochemically verified, and the severity of nicotine dependence and possible interventions for tobacco use disorder were not adjusted for. In addition, the relationship between MFA and prenatal smoking habits may be multidirectional and complex. Addictions have been shown to diminish the reward from caregiving and the regulation of stress, as the neural circuitries essential in both overlap with the neuronal pathways dysregulated in substance use disorders [61]. This may also apply to maternal processes implicated in sensitive parenting and tobacco use disorder. The same conditions, such as adverse childhood experiences and lack of social support, may influence both MFA and smoking in pregnancy [62,63,64].

Conclusions

Psychosocial interventions have shown to increase the smoking cessation rate in pregnancy [65]. Nevertheless, only 13% of pregnant smokers reach and maintain abstinence after receiving a smoking cessation intervention [66]. Qualitative studies have addressed the fact that pregnant women who smoke rarely consider smoking cessation interventions to enable them to quit whereas the desire to be a good mother, to protect the fetus, and to quit smoking for the baby’s sake are perceived as facilitating smoking cessation [40]. Our study shows that the stronger level of altruistic dimension of maternal-fetal attachment associates with an increased probability of smoking cessation and suggests it should be given more emphasis in prenatal smoking cessation interventions. It is noteworthy that several interventions to enhance maternal-fetal attachment have already been introduced [29]. The aim of these interventions is to enhance the mother’s emotional wellbeing, her awareness of the fetus and her abilities to conceptualize the unborn child as an individual person, as well as providing antenatal education, social and psychological support [29]. Maternal-fetal attachment including the altruistic caregiving relationship with the unborn child can potentially be strengthened [29] which may constitute a promising novel approach for interventions aiming at promoting cessation of smoking and other substance use during pregnancy [67].

Availability of data and materials

The dataset that support the findings of this study has been constructed by combining survey data from The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study and register data from The Finnish Medical Birth Register. Restrictions apply to the availability of data obtained from The Finnish Medical Birth Register and thus, the datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to an obligation to maintain confidentiality of The Finnish Medical Birth Register records.

Change history

Abbreviations

MFA:

Maternal-fetal attachment

PPD:

Prenatal psychological distress

gwks:

Gestational weeks

MFAS:

Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale

EPDS:

Edinburgh Pre/Postnatal Depression Scale

SCL-90:

Symptom Checklist-90

References

  1. Aizer A, Currie J. The intergenerational transmission of inequality: maternal disadvantage and health at birth. Science. 2014;344(6186):856–61.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Behnke M, Smith VC, Committee on Substance Abuse, Committee on Fetus and Newborn. Prenatal substance abuse: short- and long-term effects on the exposed fetus. Pediatrics. 2013;131(3):e1009-24.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Forray A, Foster D. Substance use in the perinatal period. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2015;17(11):91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-015-0626-5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Lange S, Probst C, Rehm J, Popova S. National, regional, and global prevalence of smoking during pregnancy in the general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health. 2018;6(7):e769–76.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ekblad M, Gissler M, Korkeila J, Lehtonen L. Trends and risk groups for smoking during pregnancy in Finland and other Nordic countries. Eur J Public Health. 2014;24(4):544–51.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Biaggi A, Conroy S, Pawlby S, Pariante CM. Identifying the women at risk of antenatal anxiety and depression: a systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2015;191:62–77.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Kandel D, Griesler P, Schaffran C. Educational attainment and smoking among women: risk factors and consequences for offspring. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2009;104(Suppl 1):24–33.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Smedberg J, Lupattelli A, Mårdby A, Nordeng H. Characteristics of women who continue smoking during pregnancy: a cross-sectional study of pregnant women and new mothers in 15 European countries. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014;14:213–3.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Härkönen J, Lindberg M, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Scheinin N. Education is the strongest socio-economic predictor of smoking in pregnancy. Addiction. 2018;113(6):1117–26.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Hampson SE, Goldberg LR, Vogt TM, Dubanoski JP. Mechanisms by which childhood personality traits influence adult health status: educational attainment and healthy behaviors. Health Psychol. 2007;26(1):121–5.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Belsky DW, Moffitt TE, Corcoran DL, Domingue B, Harrington H, Hogan S, et al. The genetics of success: how single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with educational attainment relate to life-course development. Psychol Sci. 2016;27(7):957–72.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Massey SH, Reiss D, Neiderhiser JM, Leve LD, Shaw DS, Ganiban JM. Maternal personality traits associated with patterns of prenatal smoking and exposure: implications for etiologic and prevention research. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2016;53:48–54.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Lancaster C, Gold K, Flynn H, Yoo H, Marcus S, Davis M. Risk factors for depressive symptoms during pregnancy: a systematic review. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010;202(1):5–14.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Raisanen S, Lehto SM, Nielsen HS, Gissler M, Kramer MR, Heinonen S. Risk factors for and perinatal outcomes of major depression during pregnancy: a population-based analysis during 2002–2010 in Finland. BMJ Open. 2014;4(11):e004883.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Smedberg J, Lupattelli A, Mardby AC, Overland S, Nordeng H. The relationship between maternal depression and smoking cessation during pregnancy. A cross-sectional study of pregnant women from 15 European countries. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2015 Feb;18(1):73–84.

  16. Riaz M, Lewis S, Naughton F, Ussher M. Predictors of smoking cessation during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction. 2018;113(4):610–22.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Vesterinen H, Morello Frosch R, Sen S, Zeise L, Woodruff T. Cumulative effects of prenatal-exposure to exogenous chemicals and psychosocial stress on fetal growth: systematic-review of the human and animal evidence. PLoS One. 2017;12(7):e0176331.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Glover V, Capron L. Prenatal parenting. Curr Opin Psychol. 2017;15:66–70.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Alhusen JL, Gross D, Hayat MJ, Woods AB, Sharps PW. The influence of maternal-fetal attachment and health practices on neonatal outcomes in low-income, urban women. Res Nurs Health. 2012;35(2):112–20.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Cannella B, Yarcheski A, Mahon N. Meta-analyses of predictors of health practices in pregnant women. West J Nurs Res. 2018;40(3):425–46.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Branjerdporn G, Meredith P, Strong J, Garcia J. Associations between maternal-foetal attachment and infant developmental outcomes: a systematic review. Matern Child Health J. 2017;21(3):540–53.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Lindgren K. Relationships among maternal-fetal attachment, prenatal depression, and health practices in pregnancy. Res Nurs Health. 2001;24(3):203–17.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Magee SR, Bublitz MH, Orazine C, Brush B, Salisbury A, Niaura R, et al. The relationship between maternal-fetal attachment and cigarette smoking over pregnancy. Matern Child Health J. 2014;18(4):1017–22.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Slade P, Laxton Kane M, Spiby H. Smoking in pregnancy: The role of the transtheoretical model and the mother’s attachment to the fetus. Addict Behav. 2006;31(5):743–57.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Massey S, Bublitz M, Magee S, Salisbury A, Niaura R, Wakschlag L, et al. Maternal-fetal attachment differentiates patterns of prenatal smoking and exposure. Addict Behav. 2015;45:51–6.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Cranley MS. Development of a tool for the measurement of maternal attachment during pregnancy. Nurs Res. 1981;30(5):281–4.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Goecke TW, Voigt F, Faschingbauer F, Spangler G, Beckmann MW, Beetz A. The association of prenatal attachment and perinatal factors with pre- and postpartum depression in first-time mothers. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2012;286(2):309–16.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Goodwin R, Cheslack Postava K, Nelson D, Smith P, Wall M, Hasin D, et al. Smoking during pregnancy in the United States, 2005–2014: the role of depression. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2017;179:159–66.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Borg Cunen N, Jomeen J, Borg Xuereb R, Poat A. A narrative review of interventions addressing the parental-fetal relationship. Women Birth. 2017;30(4):e141–51.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Tandon M, Si X, Belden A, Spitznagel E, Wakschlag LS, Luby J. Parenting practices in pregnancy smokers compared to non smokers. J Clin Med Res. 2013;5(2):84–91.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Foley S. Great expectations? Do mothers’ and fathers’ prenatal thoughts and feelings about the infant predict parent-infant interaction quality? A meta-analytic review. Dev Rev. 2018;48:40–54.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Maas AJ, de Cock ESA, Vreeswijk CMJM, Vingerhoets AJJM, van Bakel HJA. A longitudinal study on the maternal-fetal relationship and postnatal maternal sensitivity. J Reprod Infant Psychol. 2016;34(2):110–21.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Suchman N, DeCoste C, Borelli J, McMahon T. Does improvement in maternal attachment representations predict greater maternal sensitivity, child attachment security and lower rates of relapse to substance use? A second test of mothering from the inside out treatment mechanisms. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2018;85:21–30.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Goodwin R, Cheslack Postava K, Nelson D, Smith P, Hasin D, Janevic T, et al. Serious psychological distress and smoking during pregnancy in the United States: 2008–2014. Nicotine Tob Res. 2017;19(5):605–14.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Cox JL, Holden JM, Sagovsky R. Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh postnatal depression scale. Br J Psychiatry. 1987;150:782–6.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Derogatis LR, Lipman RS, Covi L. SCL-90: an outpatient psychiatric rating scale–preliminary report. Psychopharmacol Bull. 1973;9(1):13–28.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Matti Holi. Assessment of psychiatric symptoms using the SCL-90. Helsinki: University of Helsinki; 2003.

  38. Gibson J, McKenzie McHarg K, Shakespeare J, Price J, Gray R. A systematic review of studies validating the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in antepartum and postpartum women. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2009;119(5):350–64.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Derringer J. (2018). A simple correction for non-independent tests. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/f2tyw.

  40. Barnett MJ, Fealy S, Wilson A. Barriers and enablers for smoking cessation amongst pregnant women: an umbrella review. Women Birth. 2019;32(4):310–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2018.10.007.

  41. Jessup MA, Ross TB, Jones AL, Satre DD, Weisner CM, Chi FW, et al. Significant life events and their impact on alcohol and drug use: a qualitative study. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2014;46(5):450–9.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Tong VT, Farr SL, Bombard J, D’Angelo D, Ko JY, England LJ. Smoking before and during pregnancy among women reporting depression or anxiety. Obstet Gynecol. 2016;128(3):562–70.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Cannella B. Maternal-fetal attachment: an integrative review. J Adv Nurs. 2005;50(1):60–8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Tichelman E, Westerneng M, Witteveen AB, van Baar A,L, van der Horst H,E, de Jonge A, et al. Correlates of prenatal and postnatal mother-to-infant bonding quality: a systematic review. PLoS One. 2019;14(9):e0222998.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Bay J, Morton S, Vickers M. Realizing the potential of adolescence to prevent transgenerational conditioning of noncommunicable disease risk: multi-sectoral design frameworks. Healthcare (Basel). 2016;4(3):39.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Brumana L, Arroyo A, Schwalbe N, Lehtimaki S, Hipgrave D. Maternal and child health services and an integrated, life-cycle approach to the prevention of non-communicable diseases. BMJ Glob Health. 2017;2(3):e000295–5.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Catalano R, Fagan A, Gavin L, Greenberg M, Irwin C, Ross D, et al. Worldwide application of prevention science in adolescent health. Lancet. 2012;379(9826):1653–64.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  48. Gray K, Squeglia L. Research Review: What have we learned about adolescent substance use? J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2018;59(6):618–27.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Patton G, Olsson C, Skirbekk V, Saffery R, Wlodek M, Azzopardi P, et al. Adolescence and the next generation. Nature. 2018;554(7693):458–66.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Curtin S, Matthews TJ. Smoking prevalence and cessation before and during pregnancy: data from the birth certificate, 2014. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2016;65(1):1–14.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Schoenaker DAJM, Ploubidis G, Goodman A, Mishra G. Factors across the life course predict women’s change in smoking behaviour during pregnancy and in midlife: results from the National Child Development Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2017;71(12):1137–44.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Karlsson L, Tolvanen M, Scheinin N, Uusitupa H, Korja R, Ekholm E, et al. Cohort profile: The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study (FinnBrain). Int J Epidemiol. 2018;47(1):15–6j.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Vuori E, Gissler M. Perinatal statistics: parturients, deliveries and newborns 2015. Official Statistics of Finland. Finland: National Institutute for Health and Welfare (THL); 2016. Available at: http://www.julkari.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/131259/Tr_16_2016.pdf?sequence=1.

  54. McNamara J, Townsend M, Herbert J. A systemic review of maternal wellbeing and its relationship with maternal fetal attachment and early postpartum bonding. PLoS One. 2019;14(7):e0220032-2.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. Brandon AR, Pitts S, Denton WH, Stringer CA, Evans HM. A history of the theory of prenatal attachment. J Prenat Perinat Psychol Health. 2009;23(4):201–22.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Walsh J. Definitions matter: If maternal-fetal relationships are not attachment, what are they? Arch Womens Ment Health. 2010;13(5):449–51.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Busonera A, Cataudella S, Lampis J, Tommasi M, Zavattini G. Psychometric properties of a 20-item version of the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale in a sample of Italian expectant women. Midwifery. 2016;34:79–87.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Doster A, Wallwiener S, Müller M, Matthies L, Plewniok K, Feller S, et al. Reliability and validity of the German version of the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2018;297(5):1157–67.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Massey S, Compton M. Psychological differences between smokers who spontaneously quit during pregnancy and those who do not: a review of observational studies and directions for future research. Nicotine Tob Res. 2013;15(2):307–19.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Henningfield J, Hatsukami D, Zeller M, Peters E. Conference on abuse liability and appeal of tobacco products: conclusions and recommendations. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2011;116:1–7.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  61. Rutherford HJ, Mayes LC. Parenting and addiction: Neurobiological insights. Curr Opin Psychol. 2017;15:55–60.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  62. Sancho Rossignol A, Schilliger Z, Cordero M, Rusconi Serpa S, Epiney M, Hüppi P, et al. The association of maternal exposure to domestic violence during childhood with prenatal attachment, maternal-fetal heart rate, and infant behavioral regulation. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:358.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  63. Doan H. Conceptualizing prenatal attachment: toward a multidimensional view. J Prenat Perinat Psychol Health. 2003;18(2):109–29.

    Google Scholar 

  64. Pear V, Petito L, Abrams B. The role of maternal adverse childhood experiences and race in intergenerational high-risk smoking behaviors. Nicotine Tob Res. 2017;19(5):623–30.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  65. Chamberlain C, O’Mara Eves A, Porter J, Coleman T, Perlen S, Thomas J, et al. Psychosocial interventions for supporting women to stop smoking in pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;2:CD001055–5.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Jones M, Lewis S, Parrott S, Wormall S, Coleman T. Re-starting smoking in the postpartum period after receiving a smoking cessation intervention: a systematic review. Addiction. 2016;111(6):981–90.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  67. Pajulo H, Pajulo M, Jussila H, Ekholm E. Substance-abusing pregnant women: Prenatal intervention using ultrasound consultation and mentalization to enhance the mother-child relationship and reduce substance use. Infant Ment Health J. 2016;37(4):317–34.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deep gratitude to all the pregnant women participating in The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. The investigators would like to acknowledge the Academy of Finland, the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Finnish State Grants for Clinical Research, University of Turku (HJ), Turku University Foundation (HJ) and Finnish Psychiatric Association (HJ) for the funding for this research.

Funding

This research was supported by funding from the Academy of Finland, the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Finnish State Grants for Clinical Research, University of Turku (HJ), Turku University Foundation (HJ) and Finnish Psychiatric Association (HJ). The funding bodies did not contribute to the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and writing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Doctoral Programme of Clinical Investigation, Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Heidi Jussila

  2. FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Lemminkäisenkatu 3, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Heidi Jussila, Juho Pelto, Riikka Korja, Eeva Ekholm, Marjukka Pajulo, Linnea Karlsson & Hasse Karlsson

  3. Department of Psychology , University of Turku , Turku, Finland

    Riikka Korja

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Turku University Hospital , Turku, Finland

    Eeva Ekholm

  5. Department of Child Psychiatry , University of Turku , Turku, Finland

    Marjukka Pajulo

  6. Centre for Population Health Research , University of Turku and Turku University Hospital , Turku, Finland

    Linnea Karlsson

  7. Department of Child Psychiatry , Turku University Hospital and University of Turku , Turku, Finland

    Linnea Karlsson

  8. Department of Psychiatry , Turku University Hospital and University of Turku , Turku, Finland

    Hasse Karlsson

Authors
  1. Heidi Jussila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Juho Pelto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Riikka Korja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Eeva Ekholm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marjukka Pajulo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Linnea Karlsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Hasse Karlsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All the authors have made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, the collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and a final approval of the version to be published. All the authors have been personally and actively involved in substantive work leading to this research report, and consider themselves jointly and individually responsible for its content.  The main contributors to the designing of the birth cohort: HK, LK; A main contributor to the designing of the prenatal substance abuse self-report in the cohort: MP; The main contributors to the conception and design of the current work: HJ, JP, EE, HK, LK.  The main contributors to the collecting the data: HK, LK; The main contributors to the analysis and interpretation of the data of the current work: HJ and JP. The main author and corresponding author, the main contributor to the drafting and revising the manuscript: HJ; Drafting of the article and substantial contribution to the critical revision of the manuscript: JP, RK, EE, MP, LK, HK. Final approval of the version to be published: HJ, JP, RK, EE, MP, LK, HK. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heidi Jussila.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study has been approved by The Ethics Committee of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland. Written informed consent for participation in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study was obtained from the participants. The Finnish Institute For Health and Welfare (THL) has given an administrative permission for the acquisition of The Finnish Medical Birth Register data.

Consent for publication

Consent for publication not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The original online version of this article was revised: the authors reported an error in Tables 2 and 3 headings of the two columns are missing during layout processing.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jussila, H., Pelto, J., Korja, R. et al. The association of maternal-fetal attachment with smoking and smoking cessation during pregnancy in The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 20, 741 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-03393-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-03393-x

Keywords

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

ISSN: 1471-2393

Contact us