Associated Behavioral Risks in a Group of Women During Pregnancy from Mures District

Background. It is well-known that the exposure during pregnancy to lifestyle risk factors can affect thehealth both for the mother and the fetus. There are many risk factors for pregnancy, including: smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary pattern, irregular daily meal serving plan, lack of knowledge regarding health prevention. The main objective of our study was to assess the practices, knowledge and attitudes towards lifestyle risk behaviors during pregnancy in a group of women from Tirgu-Mures area.
Materials and methods. We used a cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire, assessingsmoking behavior and lifestyle patterns during pregnancy, on a group of 481 women from the urban area (58.84%), as well as from the rural area (41.16%) from Mures county.
Results. In the study group, 190 women (39.5%) used to smoke before pregnancy; among which 37.36% continued to smoke even after they found out they are pregnant. In the group of pregnant women that continued to smoke during pregnancy, we have studied other behavioral factors related to lifestyle, identifying the following: 5,73% have been consuming alcohol weekly, 56.33% reduced greatly their physical activity level, 3.63% have been consuming at least 3 cups of coffee a day. During pregnancy, 12.72% did not have a regular, daily meal serving plan, and 67.26% was a little or not at all concerned about their eating habits. Only 30.9% from the smoking pregnant women group have received information from the family doctor (GP) regarding the risk factors of smoking habits, while 38.18% did not receive any information.
Conclusions. Behavioral risk factors in pregnancy have to be followed closely by the HealthCare System in order to avoid complications for the mother and the child. The best way of accomplishing that is through an efficient community intervention.