PHA highlights the importance of stopping smoking during pregnancy

Smoking during pregnancy is the largest preventable cause of ill-health and death in young babies and infants.

Statistics from the 2010 Infant Feeding Survey show that in Northern Ireland 28% of mothers smoked in the 12 months before pregnancy. It is encouraging that of those mothers who smoked before or during pregnancy, approximately half gave up at some point before the birth of their baby. Sadly, 15% didn’t stop and continued to smoke during pregnancy [see reference].

If you are pregnant, or even thinking about getting pregnant, the Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging you to stop; it will help protect both your own and your baby’s health.

Gerry Bleakney, Strategic Lead for Tobacco Control with the PHA, said: “When you smoke a cigarette, all the poisonous substances you breathe in get into your bloodstream, and from there, into your baby’s blood too. This means both of you are at risk.”

Smoking during pregnancy is linked to the following conditions:

• pregnancy complications;
• premature delivery;
• low birth weight babies – a leading cause of infant death;
• stillbirth;
• miscarriage;
• sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) – also known as cot death

Children whose parents smoke are also generally more likely to have asthma and other serious illnesses that may need hospital treatment.

Gerry continued: “The good news is that it’s never too late to stop smoking. Giving up at any stage in your pregnancy is good for you and your baby, but the sooner you stop the better. Protecting your baby from tobacco smoke is one of the best things you can do to give your child a healthy start in life.

“It’s important for all of us to help support change. If your partner or anyone else who lives with you smokes, their smoke can affect you and the baby both before and after birth. You may also find it more difficult to stop if someone around you smokes so why not stop together, you can support each other along the way. Having a baby is a time of enormous change and is a perfect time to stop for good.

“The people who are providing your antenatal care can help you. Let them know as soon as you can that you want to stop smoking. Your doctor, midwife, practice nurse, health visitor or pharmacist can all offer you advice and support while you are giving up smoking.

“There are also more than 600 free stop smoking specialist services across Northern Ireland. For more information and useful tips to help you stop smoking, visit the PHA's Stop Smoking (stopsmokingni.info) website and order a ‘Quit Kit’ free of charge. Alternatively, contact the Smokers’ Helpline on 0808 812 8008.”