Maternal smoking rate in north Essex drops, says NHS

A total of 56 mothers registered in the former NHS North East Essex area were known to be smokers at the time of giving birth in the three months to September last year, NHS Digital said.

This is equivalent to 7.1 per cent of new mums registered in the area – down from 12.5 per cent in the same period a year ago.

Nationally, maternal smoking rates fell from 9.1 per cent to 7.5 per cent in the past year.

Healthcare - Colchester Hospital is home to north Essex's main maternity unit (Image: Newsquest)

However, it meant the national target of six per cent was missed yet again, with the charity Action on Smoking and Health saying the government is not on track to hit it until about 2032.

Out of the 106 sub-integrated care boards in England, 22 met the national target – an increase from nine in the year before.

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'Pregnant women must be supported'

Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive at Action on Smoking and Health, said: “Smoking rates during pregnancy have fallen over the last decade, although nationally we are not on track to hit the government’s six per cent ambition until around 2032, a decade later than hoped for.

“Maternal smoking increases the risk of poor birth outcomes, including still birth, miscarriage and birth defects, so it's vital that every pregnant woman is offered support to quit smoking.”

Across the region, the maternal smoking rate was 7.4 per cent – almost twice as high as in London but less than the north east of England and Yorkshire where more than ten per cent of mothers smoked during pregnancy.

Ms Cheeseman added: “Progress has improved over the last year coinciding with the rollout of new dedicated stop smoking support in maternity services.

“A new national financial incentive scheme for pregnant smokers and their partners due to be rolled out this year should further accelerate progress.

“However, more needs to be done to tackle the significant disparities in maternal smoking rates between different parts of the country and to address high rates of women relapsing to smoking postnatally.”

Minister - Health Secretary Victoria Atkins (Image: PA)

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I am committed to supporting pregnant women to stop smoking and welcome these latest statistics which show a drop in the proportion of women smoking at time of delivery.

“We have committed to offering all pregnant women who smoke financial incentives in the form of vouchers alongside behavioural support by the end of 2024 to help even more expectant mums kick the habit.

“In October this government set out plans to introduce legislation to prohibit children born on or after January 1, 2009 from legally buying cigarettes in England as part of our smoke free 2030 ambition for England.”