Smoking status
Between 2011 and 2020, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers who reported smoking tobacco at any time during pregnancy decreased from 50% to 43% (Figure MB 4).
In 2020, the proportion of Indigenous mothers who reported smoking after 20 weeks of pregnancy was slightly lower than the proportion who reported smoking in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy (38% and 42%, respectively) (Figure MB 4).
In 2019, the rate of smoking during pregnancy among Indigenous women who gave birth varied little by age group. Indigenous women aged 25–29 reported the highest rates of smoking during pregnancy (43%). Among non-Indigenous women, rates of smoking during pregnancy tended to decrease with increasing age (Figure MB 5a).
The proportion of Indigenous mothers who reported smoking during pregnancy, increased with increasing remoteness. In 2019, 54% of Indigenous women in Very remote areas reported smoking during pregnancy, compared with 37% in Major cities (Figure MB 5b).