Data used in this report are from the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) Vital Statistics System. They are for Vermont resident births, regardless of whether the birth occurred in or outside of Vermont. Vermont’s vital records (data concerning births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, civil unions, divorces, and dissolutions) are collected according to state and federal laws and stored in VDH’s Vital Statistics System. When a birth occurs in the state, the physician, midwife, or other birth attendant is required by law to complete a birth certificate and file it with the town clerk in the town of birth within 5 days. For hospital births, medical records staff usually complete the birth certificate. The completed birth certificate is recorded and filed in the town where the birth took place, and a certified copy is sent to VDH for incorporation in the state’s Vital Statistics System. Data are then sent to the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), the Federal compilation of each state’s vital records data across the county, where public access is provided to statistical information from birth certificates.
Smoking during pregnancy was defined as a pregnant woman who reported smoking any time during the first (0 to 13 weeks), second (14 to 26 weeks), and/or third (27 to 40 weeks) trimester. A record was counted as a ‘smoking’ record even if it indicated a pregnant woman smoked and then quit during any one of the three trimesters.