Smoking Cessation Support in Pregnancy in Scotland

Smoking during pregnancy is a major concern in Scotland. At least 23% of women smoke during early pregnancy, with teenagers and more disadvantaged populations more likely to smoke. Smoking in pregnancy harms women and unborn children, and reducing its prevalence is important both for improving population health and for reducing health inequalities. Scotland has established national targets to reduce the proportion of women who smoke during pregnancy (from 29% in 1995 to 20% by 2010), and to reduce inequalities in this area by increasing the rate of improvement for the most deprived communities by 15%. This study aimed to map and describe smoking cessation support for pregnant women, to provide examples of promising practice, to examine existing national monitoring data on smoking in pregnancy (including SMR02 records and the National Smoking Cessation Database), and to compare current practice with the existing Scottish guidelines and the guidance issued by NICE in England in February 2008.