Improving lives by helping pregnant people quit smoking
October is Stoptober and new figures show that specialist hospital stop smoking teams have successfully reduced the number of women and birthing people who smoke, improving both their lives and those of their babies.
The smokefree pregnancy service across Southend, Basildon and Broomfield hospitals, launched in February this year, and has seen numbers of those smoking when they give birth drop from 7.5% to 5.8%.
It’s been achieved by providing free support, including telephone and face to face counselling, behaviour change advice, and nicotine replacement therapy to help stop smoking during pregnancy.
Kate Miles, Lead Midwife for Smoking Cessation at Basildon Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Helping pregnant smokers to quit is a vital service that is having a really positive impact resulting in healthier pregnancies and families.
“We know how important it is for women and birthing people to stop smoking and our specialist team offers free one to one support and advice, including Nicotine Replacement Therapy.
However, those pregnant and still smoking figures in Thurrock still pose a challenge, with one in ten (11.2%) of those pregnant in Thurrock still smoking when they give birth.
Dr Matthew Sweeting, Executive Medical Director of NHS Mid and South Essex, said: “It is excellent to see progress in helping local people kick the habit. While we recognise there is still plenty of work to do, thanks to the investment in targeted support in our hospitals, rates of smoking are coming down. No matter how long you have been a smoker, there is plenty of support you can access across mid and south Essex to help you quit.
“Every cigarette smoked contains over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are dangerous, so smoking when you are pregnant can harm your unborn baby. Cigarettes also restrict the essential oxygen supply to your baby. As a result, their heart must beat harder every time you smoke. The likelihood of stillbirth doubles and the likelihood of sudden infant death triples for people who smoke during pregnancy.”
Deciding to quit is the first step to stop smoking. There are lots of resources and support to take the next steps. Visit NHS Mid and South Essex’s Stopping Smoking page for more information and links to local services.
As part of Stoptober, local health leaders are calling on smokers across mid and south Essex to join the 2.5 million others nationally who have made a previous quit attempt during October. There are lots of local Stop Smoking services available for residents.