Does childbirth affect paternal smoking?

While maternal smoking during and after pregnancy has been widely documented in the existing literature, paternal smoking behavior before and after childbirth has received relatively less attention by researchers. During pregnancy and childbirth, fathers may attempt to quit smoking because their spouse and newborn baby can be exposed to secondhand smoke. Using the panel data from 2009 to 2016 of the Korea Health Survey, we examined the changes in paternal smoking behavior before and up to two years after childbirth. Findings revealed that childbirth was associated with decreased participation in smoking behavior (OR = 0.599, p < 0.05) and reduction in daily cigarette consumption (IRR = 0.880, p < 0.05). However, the impact of childbirth on paternal smoking became non-significant during the first two years following the birth, which might imply a relapse in smoking cessation. Further, fathers were not likely to reduce or quit smoking during the pregnancy. In light of these findings, smoking cessation counseling during prenatal visits should involve fathers, and continued aids for smoking cessation should be available to parents after childbirth to prevent a relapse as well as support a new quit attempt.