Among all addictions, health professionals, scientists, educators and media pay perhaps the most attention on smoking. In this work we deal with the study of smoking habits of pregnant women in the Prešov district and with the frequency of premature births, depending on the smoking habits of mother. The sample consisted of 911 Romany and 845 full-term non-Romany newborns. The presented research was conducted at the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of the J. A. Reiman Hospital in Presov, during 2009 – 2011. In Slovakia, according to the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, 43 % of adults were smokers in 2000, while 32 % of them smoked regularly and 14 % occasionally. Each year about 11 000 people die on diseases related to smoking. Health status of Romany is worse than the health of non-Romany people and reproductive behaviour of Romany is significantly different from the reproductive behaviour of the non-Romany population. The present research focuses on smoking in pregnant women of the majority and minority populations and its influence on duration of pregnancy. Research confirms the seriousness of eliminating smoking during pregnancy due to the impact of smoking on preterm birth newborns.

Key words: smoking during pregnancy – Romany and non-Romany newborns – premature newborns