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Unborn babies put at risk with figures showing 1 in 5 pregnant mums smoke

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Nov 16 2008 By Mark Aitken Political Editor

ONE in five pregnant women smoke despite the health risks to their unborn child.

And of these, only one in 10 have tried to quit with NHS support.

Smoking is linked to low birth weight and an increased risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.

But government figures for 2007 show that 11,868 women were still smoking - 20.9 per cent of pregnant women - at the time of their first ante-natal booking.

Of these, only 1307 - around 11 per cent - tried to quit by taking up NHS support and advice on quitting.

Labour MSP George Foulkes said: “The Scottish government needs to do more to warn pregnant women of the dangers of smoking.

“The uptake of cessation programmes is very disappointing.

It points to an urgent need for a campaign by the Scottish government.”

TVcelebrities such as Kate Garraway and Kerry Katona were seen smoking while pregnant. But in Britain, the practice was linked to about 14,000 low-weight births, 5000 miscarriages and 400 still births last year.

NHS boards have tried a number of ways to help expectant women quit.

A pilot scheme in Tayside gave awards vouchers to pregnant women if they take breath tests to show they have kicked the habit.

Research showed nearly half of women in Dundee smoked while pregnant.

Anti-tobacco campaigners and health experts said that more needed to be done to help women give up smoking.

Sheila Duffy, of ASH Scotland, said: “The challenge is making it comfortable for people to go to stop smoking services and comfortable for health professionals to raise the subject of smoking.”

BMA Scotland chairman Pete Terry said: “Women should be made aware of significant risks to their baby’s health and get the support they need to quit smoking.”

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