Latest figures from the NHS reveal that more than one in ten women on the Isle of Wight are smoking while pregnant.
The risks have been widely reported – from causing premature birth, to being a risk factor of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – and the campaigns run by Public Health Isle of Wight over the past few years had appeared to be working.
Spike in numbers
However, the latest figures reveal a rise from the same period last year.
In the second quarter of 2017 there were 295 pregnancies and of those, 47 mothers smoked throughout their pregnancy (15.9 per cent). This is up from 11.7 per cent in the same period last year.
Smoking during pregnancy has been steadily decreasing in recent years, the yearly percentage down from 18.4 per cent four years ago.
OnTheWight has asked Public Health Isle of Wight what they think has caused the sudden increase and will update this article once we hear back.
New NHS targets
Nationally, the NHS is seeking to reduce the number of mothers who smoke while pregnant down to six per cent – a target revised down from 11 per cent earlier this year.
Pregnant smokers have been one of the key targets of the Department of Health’s tobacco strategy, because of the risk of serious health complications for both mother and child.
Isle of Wight not alone
It’s not just the Isle of Wight that has seen a rise in the figures. Eleven per cent of mothers in England smoked at the time of delivery – up slightly from 10.8 per cent in the previous quarter of 2017, and significantly higher than the NHS target.
The England figure has been decreasing year on year since records began, down from 15 per cent in 2006.
Wide regional variation
There is also wide regional variation in the figures: the NHS region with the highest number of smoking mothers was Cumbria and the North East, with 15.8 per cent of all births – more than three times the rate in London, where just 5.1 per cent of babies were born to mothers who smoke.
Blackpool’s Clinical Commissioning Group has highest rate of smoking mothers in the country, where more than one in four women smoked throughout their pregnancy, according to the latest figures.
Associated factors
Children who grow up with a smoking parent are also more likely to become smokers themselves and according to the Department of Health, smoking is more common among pregnant women from disadvantaged groups.
The Isle of Wight – which has 13 areas among the 20% most deprived the country – is ranked 235 out of 324 local authorities on the social mobility index.
Image: frankdekleine under CC BY 2.0
