A key target of the U.S. health policies is to reduce costly adverse birth outcomes to which prenatal smoking is one of the most signicant contributors. This paper represents the rst attempt to examine whether implementing the minimum cigarette purchase age of 21 can curb smoking among young...

This paper uses a unique large panel data of sibling births to provide new evidence on when prenatal smokers must quit smoking to deliver the healthy newborn. In a series of the mother fixed effect estimation, I find robust results that early cessation in the first trimester nullifies the...

In the United States, the high prevalence of unhealthy preconception body weight and inappropriate gestational weight gain among pregnant women is an important public health concern. However, the relationship among pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, and newborn birth weight has not been...

Objectives: Smoking during pregnancy is a key preventable risk contributor to poor infant health. Our study presents a full dynamic relationship between the timing of prenatal smoking cessation or reduction and infant birth weight. Methods: Using a large representative dataset of birth cohort in...