UP to one-quarter of pregnant women in Scotland are still smokers by the time of their first hospital check-up, it has been claimed.
Despite a risk to their unborn child, thousands of mothers-to-be admit they have not given up cigarettes when they meet their midwife for a "booking-in appointment".
The figures, released by the NHS Information Services Division, cover the first meeting with a midwife, which usually occurs between eight and 12 weeks into the pregnancy.
Smoking is known to increase the risk of miscarriage, premature labour, cot death and stillbirth. It also increases the chance of babies getting infections and developing other health conditions, such as asthma. Children of smokers are also more likely to smoke themselves when they are older.
The Scotland-wide average for pregnant women still smoking is one-fifth (19.3%). However, in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, the figure jumped to 25.9%.
Other health boards which recorded a high number of smoking mothers include Dumfries and Galloway at 24.7%, Fife (23.4%), Borders (22.6%) and Tayside (22.3%).
At the other end of the scale was Western Isles, where 14.4% of expectant mothers – around one in seven – was a smoker at their booking-in appointment.
Younger mothers are most likely still to be smoking – 40.2% of those aged under 20 and 32% in the 20 to 24 age group.
The figures also show that at the time they first see a health visitor at home, 17.4% of pregnant women are smokers.
Gillian Smith, director of Royal College of Midwives in Scotland, said pregnant women smoking was a "major issue" for the NHS.
She said: "Smoking in pregnancy increases the chance of having a miscarriage and can cause problems with growth as there will not be the same amount of oxygen getting to the baby. There is also a problem with secondary smoke around youngsters after they are born. This can increase instances of asthma and glue ear.
"Pregnancy can be stressful and it is not the easiest time for a mother to give up. Most women will want to do their best for their child, but if you are an addict then it can be incredibly difficult. What women need is support, and not to be judged."
Health boards across Scotland have tried several initiatives to lure mothers away from tobacco – including payments to those who have stayed off cigarettes, with a carbon monoxide test used to detect smoking levels.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health Scotland, added: "Smoking while pregnant harms both the mother and the child.
"Quitting at any point during pregnancy helps, but the earlier the better. Quitting smoking is difficult for some, but there is no better time to do it and support from local health services, as well as family and friends, can help give a new baby the best start in life."
It was revealed this week almost half of mothers who quit smoking while pregnant resume the habit.
The study, by Nicotine and Tobacco Research, showed 47% of new mothers began smoking again within six weeks of giving birth.
Mothers living with another smoker were six times more likely to take up smoking again.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article