Number of female smokers on the rise

The foundation's secretary, Dr Prakit Wateesatokkit, said the rising number of female smokers could be blamed upon the intensive marketing strategies employed by tobacco companies.

"We have to address this issue immediately and educate them about the dangers of smoking," he said.

Another study done this year by Chulalongkorn University found that the key reason behind pregnant women smoking was that they wanted to try it out, were persuaded by friends or believed cigarettes helped them relax.

The study, conducted on 1,600 pregnant women nationwide at an average age of 27, showed that most were first-time mothers and had every intention of breastfeeding their infants. Most of the respondents said they were finding it difficult to give up because people around them smoked, that it had become a habit or that they were addicted.

Piyalumporn Hawanont, one of the researchers, said the study also showed that pregnant women smoked because it helped them feel equal to men, helped them be taken seriously, feel accepted by society and helped them relax. They also believed that the habit was not disgusting, nor harmful to health. However, smoking only got the fourth ranking in the list of most favourite leisure activities.

The study also discovered that several of the pregnant respondents were affected by second-hand smoke. Only 2 per cent of the sample group said they did not have to suffer second-hand smoke over the past six months.

"Women are still being harmed by people they love," Piyalumporn said.

Though most smokers seemed to know enough about the risks of contracting cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary and other tobacco-related diseases, not many knew that pregnant smokers risked pre-term labour, dwarfism as well as ectopic pregnancy.

The foundation said people needed to be told that they could quit if they were mentally strong, while health authorities could issue more salient laws on smoking bans and increase the price of cigarettes.