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Research Article Volume 17 Issue 3
Obstetric and neonatal outcomes with exclusive vaping in pregnancy
N Hughes, K Flynn, E McNamee, C Regan, SW Lindow, , MP O’Connell
Received: May 18, 2026 | Published: May 29, 2026
Citation: Hughes N, Flynn K, McNamee E, et al. Obstetric and neonatal outcomes with exclusive vaping in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol Int J. 2026;17(3):118-122. DOI: 10.15406/ogij.2026.17.00833
Abstract
Objective: To compare obstetric and neonatal outcomes in women who exclusively vaped with non-smokers in pregnancy.
Methods: This is a retrospective observational cohort study. In 2017, a question on vaping behavior in pregnancy was included in the women’s initial antenatal visit (booking visit) at our hospital. This study compared delivery outcomes in those women who at booking acknowledged exclusive vape usage with non-smokers and smokers. This was obtained by using information from the hospital electronic health records database. In total, data from 32,174 births were examined.
Results: A total of 765 women reported vaping exclusively. There were 351 women who concurrently smoked and vaped (dual users) and 2470 women who exclusively smoked. There were 28,588 women who were non-smokers and non-vapers who acted as a control group.
There were no significant differences in pregnancy or neonatal outcome when exclusive vapers were compared to the control group.
When the whole cohort was analyzed there were significant reductions in birth weight, gestational age and prematurity rates and increases in the need for neonatal care in the exclusive smoking and dual users.
Conclusion: Exclusive vaping in pregnancy was not associated with reduced birth weight, gestational age, prematurity rates, stillbirth, or fetal abnormality. Low birth weights and pre-term birth rates were only associated with women who smoked. Dual use of cigarettes and vapes were associated with the negative outcomes of smoking exclusively in pregnancy.
Methods: This is a retrospective observational cohort study. In 2017, a question on vaping behavior in pregnancy was included in the women’s initial antenatal visit (booking visit) at our hospital. This study compared delivery outcomes in those women who at booking acknowledged exclusive vape usage with non-smokers and smokers. This was obtained by using information from the hospital electronic health records database. In total, data from 32,174 births were examined.
Results: A total of 765 women reported vaping exclusively. There were 351 women who concurrently smoked and vaped (dual users) and 2470 women who exclusively smoked. There were 28,588 women who were non-smokers and non-vapers who acted as a control group.
There were no significant differences in pregnancy or neonatal outcome when exclusive vapers were compared to the control group.
When the whole cohort was analyzed there were significant reductions in birth weight, gestational age and prematurity rates and increases in the need for neonatal care in the exclusive smoking and dual users.
Conclusion: Exclusive vaping in pregnancy was not associated with reduced birth weight, gestational age, prematurity rates, stillbirth, or fetal abnormality. Low birth weights and pre-term birth rates were only associated with women who smoked. Dual use of cigarettes and vapes were associated with the negative outcomes of smoking exclusively in pregnancy.
Keywords: neonatal outcomes, pregnancy, vaping, fetal abnormality, cigarette smoking
©2026 Hughes, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.