Introduction:
Maternal smoking is responsible for a number of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Even among women who do quit smoking, many will continue to be exposed to second hand smoke.

Aim: The smoking status of pregnant women. Their knowledge and the way they were informed about the risks of smoking.

Methods:
The research was conducted between May and November 2016 in a public Maternity hospital in Athens, Greece. A structured questionnaire was filled in by 195 pregnant women.

Results:
24,6% of pregnant women reported that they continued to smoke during pregnancy. 58.5 % of pregnant women had been smokers before their pregnancy. 82,8% reported that they had thought about quitting smoking and 71,1 % of them had tried to quit. 50% of them failed quitting. There was no statistically significant difference (p=0.727) in the mean Fagerstrom score between those women who have tried to quit smoking (2±1.91) and those who have not (1.81±2.07) 72.6% of pregnant smokers reported that they were not adequately supported from their partner and family in their attempt to quit smoking. 67,2% of pregnant smokers smoke the majority of their cigarettes in public places and only 11.8% reported also smoking at home. 41% reported that the main source of passive smoking exposure was at public places like restaurant and cafeterias. Finally 92,6% reported having been informed about the risks of active and passive smoking during pregnancy. The main source of information however was reported to be the internet, instead of the health care professionals.

Conclusions:
Despite the fact that most women eventually chose to quit smoking during pregnancy, a significant percentage continued to smoke because they had not been helped or informed properly. Smoking cessation programs and clinics with specially trained staff should therefore be introduced to maternity hospitals in Greece.