Smoking rates among mums-to-be in England are at an all-time low, new figures have revealed.
This year also saw the biggest annual fall in smoking during pregnancy since records began, meaning 6,000 fewer pregnant women smoked when compared to the previous 12 months, protecting thousands of babies from potential harm.
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust have also been focusing on reducing the number of pregnant women smoking at the time of giving birth by providing immediate access to a tobacco dependency advisor from the beginning of pregnancy.
This is helping to improve engagement and uptake of smoking cessation services for those communities most likely to smoke, with latest data showing just 4.7 per cent of women in their area are now smoking at time of giving birth.
The NHS supports the government’s ambition for a smoke-free UK, with a focus on stopping people from starting to smoke.
NHS England’s latest Statistics on Public Health report shows there were 412,536 prescription items dispensed to help smokers give up the habit, a decrease of 42 per cent from 2019/20 (709,968) and 69 per cent lower than 2014/15 (1,348,162).
Smoking rates are continuing to fall – the most recent Health Survey for England found 13 per cent of adults said they smoked cigarettes in 2022, compared to 27% in 1993.
Adults living in the most deprived areas were more likely to smoke than those living in the least deprived areas.
About one in five adults living in deprived areas smoked (21 per cent), compared to just under one in 10 of those in the least deprived areas (9 per cent).
Separate recent data showed that in 2023-24, 104,125 people successfully quit using Stop Smoking Services in England.
