Midwife teams in Rotherham to tackle pregnant smokers
Mothers-to-be in Rotherham who smoke are being targeted by a special team of midwives to try to help them give up the habit.
The team has been assembled in what is believed to be one of the first schemes of its kind in the country.
When pregnant woman go for scans in the town they are referred to a specialist midwife if they smoke.
During a sit-down consultation they are given facts about smoking and advice and support on stopping.
The move follows a 12-month scheme by NHS Rotherham in which pregnant women were given shopping vouchers if they could kick their cigarette habit.
Stark facts
At the end of the incentive fewer than 10 women had taken up the offer.
Staff at Rotherham General Infirmary said the specialist midwife service was producing better results, with 25 women giving up smoking in the first few weeks of the scheme.
Specialist midwife Lisa Fendall said face-to-face consultations on the stark facts about smoking and its effect on unborn babies was what some women needed to convince them to stop.
“The cigarette packet doesn’t tell them everything, the advert on the telly, the leaflet in the GP’s surgery and the poster on the wall cannot convey all of that information,” she added.
The success of the project will feature at the National Smoking Cessation Conference in Glasgow next month.
news.bbc.co.uk, June 16th, 2010