Jo Locker Tobacco Control Manager, Alcohol, Drugs & Tobacco Division, Health and Wellbeing Directorate, Public Health England
Abstract
The ambition set out in the previous Tobacco Control Plan for England (2011) - To reduce the number of women smoking during pregnancy to 11% or less – has recently been achieved at a national level, with a rate of 10.6% for England as a whole. This is welcome progress, however, it masks wide geographical variations across the country and there remain around 70,000 babies born each year to mothers who smoke. The job of tackling smoking in pregnancy is far from done and sustained system-wide action is needed if we are to maintain the momentum.
With NICE guidance, the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group reports, feedback from front-line practitioners and ongoing research developments, a range of opportunities have been identified for accelerating reductions in rates of smoking before, during and after pregnancy.
This presentation will discuss the current situation, recent initiatives and activities underway to address the challenge and highlight where further action is required.
