Use of e-cigarettes during pregnancy may be common despite the potential risks, according to a CDC report. It found that 10% of women reported use of these devices shortly before pregnancy, 7% reported use around the time of pregnancy, and 1.4% reported use during the last 3 months of pregnancy in a 2015 survey in Texas and Oklahoma.

Nicotine is a known toxin that can affect fetal brain and lung development. Most e-cigarettes deliver nicotine along with a mix of other aerosolized chemicals. Nearly 1 in 5 of the surveyed women reported smoking traditional cigarettes in the past 2 years, 16.4% smoked in the 3 months before pregnancy, and 6.1% smoked during the last 3 months of pregnancy. Of women with a history of both e-cigarette use and smoking, 7.7% used both during the last 3 months of pregnancy. More than half of the women who used e-cigarettes around or during pregnancy said they were motivated by curiosity, 45.2% said they thought it might help them quit smoking, and the same percentage viewed vaping as less harmful than cigarettes to the mother.