An audit of smoking in pregnancy
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Author(s)
Emily van de Venter and Stewart Brock
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| Presenter(s) |
Emily van de Venter Public Health Speciality Registrar, NHS Somerset, Public Health, Somerset County Council |
Abstract NHS Somerset has high recorded rates of smoking in pregnancy. An audit was carried out to assess the accuracy of local data and implementation of NICE Guidance “Quitting Smoking in Pregnancy and following Childbirth”.
A mixed methods approach incorporated a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. 181 women recorded as smokers at their first midwife appointment were sent a postal survey, a third responded and 8 were followed up with a telephone interview.
The results highlighted data quality issues; almost a third of respondents said they had quit by the time of delivery compared to 14% on maternity databases. Areas for improving support to stop smoking were also highlighted. Respondents expected to be asked their smoking status by health professionals however less than half said they were asked around the time of delivery.
Findings highlighted the value of supporting partners to quit however few had accessed support. The value of carbon monoxide testing was shown in terms of encouraging women to quit and identifying gas leaks in the home, yet less than a third of respondents were offered a test.
One trust has a stop smoking specialist dedicated to supporting pregnant women; they had higher rates of women accessing support.
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Presenter biography Emily van de Venter is a Public Health Speciality Registrar working in the South West. She gained a Masters in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2011/12 and continues to develop her interest across the breath of Public Health issues. She has been working in Public Health for over 5 years and worked as a Senior Public Health Intelligence Analyst prior to joining the South West Public Health Training Scheme.
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Source of funding: NHS Somerset - Public Health
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Declaration of interest: None
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