National forum for smoking and pregnancy
| Author(s)
Carmel O'Gorman
| | Presenter(s) |
Carmel O'Gorman Smoking and Pregnancy Coordinator, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham | Abstract Available data sets suggest that the prevalence of smoking in pregnancy across England is decreasing and that national targets were achieved. Yet a smoking prevalence of 14.1% among pregnant women in 2009/10 still translates to over 91,000 babies being exposed to tobacco smoke annually in England alone. There is a new and ambitious target in the latest tobacco control plan which aspires to reduce smoking in pregnancy to < 11 % by 2015.
For some time government policy has backed the need to tackle smoking in pregnancy and there has been a lot of progress in this area. Yet reducing maternal smoking remains a challenging area of research and practice. The national forum smoking and pregnancy is a web based resource and at a time of profound changes in the NHS this forum is an important, free information resource which aims to connect individuals with a professional interest in maternal smoking and to share innovations, ideas and best practice. Developed in March 2011, its membership is growing daily. Members may access the blogs, links, discussions, events listings and news pages and also best practice guidance, policy documents, statistics and conference presentations.
Apply to join via http://www.networks.nhs.uk/nhs-networks/smoking-cessation-in-pregnancy.
| Presenter biography Carmel O'Gorman is the Smoking and Pregnancy Coordinator for the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust in Birmingham. This Trust offers maternity services in three geographically spread hospitals and is one of the largest maternity units in the country. Her background is in nursing and midwifery. She has a longstanding interest in smoking and pregnancy and for the past eight years has enjoyed working in this challenging field of practice. Also a woman's health advocate with a particular interest in the tobacco problem and the specials concerns about women smoking, especially from the perspective of social disadvantage.
| Source of funding: None
| Declaration of interest: None
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