One in every 10 pregnant women in Leeds are smokers at the time they give birth - as experts say budget cuts have 'eroded the support that women need'.

NHS statistics show that 9,399 women in our city gave birth in 2017/18, but despite an increased risk of danger to both the mother and baby’s health, 984 of these women in the Leeds were smokers at the time of their delivery.

The figures are for mothers who gave birth past the 24-week gestation mark including those who delivered twins and stillborn babies.

Smoking in pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth and low birth-weight, and maternal smoking after birth has been linked with a threefold increase in the risk of sudden infant death.

Despite the well-known risks, there has been limited success in reducing the number of women who smoke throughout their pregnancies in Leeds.

Modern records go back as far as 2010/11, when one in every eight women in the city was classed as being a smoker at the time they gave birth.

Pregnant smokers in Leeds


Elizabeth Duff, senior policy adviser for the National Childbirth Trust, said: “Smoking cessation support is now being funded under local authorities as opposed to public health.

“We know that local authority budgets cuts have eroded the support that women need and that’s why we’re seeing little progress.

“It isn’t easy to give up smoking and it is much better if there are support programmes with face to face communication.

“For poorer women who can’t afford to go out much, a cigarette might feel like a treat.

"One way to encourage women to stop smoking is to think that they can save the money they’d spend on a cigarette and save it up for another type of treat.

“Of course nothing is as good as not smoking during pregnancy but we should be encouraging nicotine patches and vaping as alternatives.

“We also need to see more partners who smoke supporting pregnant women by trying to give up, too.”

'Local lack of progress should be a serious cause of concern for the whole health care system'

The situation in Leeds is actually slightly better than the national average, with one in every nine women across England still smoking by the time they gave birth in 2017/18.

That rate has slightly improved from the one in every seven recorded in 2010/11.

Hazel Cheesman, director of policy at Action on Smoking and Health, said: “There is no single reason why rates of smoking among pregnant women are not falling equally around the country.

“Local lack of progress should be a serious cause of concern for the whole health care system given the long term impacts on child health and immediate pressures this places on maternity and other services."

