| Smoking harm to unborn children highlighted
A number
of experts flew in to Northern Ireland today to help highlight
the harm that is caused to unborn children by smoking.
This is the subject of a seminar that will explore the
health issues around smoking and pregnancy which is being
hosted by the Health Promotion Agency (HPA) at the Dunadry
Hotel, County Antrim.
The seminar
is part of the third phase of the HPA’s
public information campaign Every cigarette is doing
you damage which continues to tackle the challenges
set out in the Government's White Paper Smoking Kills.
This paper identified a number of key target groups for action
on smoking – one
of which is pregnant women.
Opening the seminar Dr Brian Gaffney, Chief
Executive of the HPA, said: “We know from research
that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of a number
of complications.
Compared to non smokers, smokers are 30-50% more likely to
have a miscarriage; twice as likely to have a problem with
the placenta making it difficult for oxygen and nutrients
to get to the developing baby and research suggests that
1 in 10 stillbirths is caused by smoking. Many women want
to give their baby the best start in life but they need support
and advice if they hope to give up successfully both during
and after their pregnancy.
“Until now the information needs of
pregnant women on smoking have been addressed through work
targeting adults
in general. Today we are taking this further by using the
seminar to highlight the issues that need to be addressed,
assess the current situation in Northern Ireland and find
out what approaches are working from the experts at local,
national and international levels.”
The HPA
has developed a range of resources to encourage and support
mothers in their attempt to quit
including the
leaflet Give your baby a breather which will be
available from all antenatal units, GP surgeries and pharmacies.
A
number of posters will also be distributed to highlight the
importance of this health issue and promote the freephone
smokers’ helpline 0800 85 85 85, which provides support
and advice from trained counsellors.
Also
speaking at the event, Margaretha Haglund, head of the
tobacco programme at Sweden’s National Institute
of Public Health, explained how a comprehensive tobacco control
strategy in her country has worked to reduce its rates of
smoking during pregnancy from 23% in 1992 to 13% in 1998.
She said: “Smoking and pregnancy programmes should
be part of an integrated comprehensive tobacco control programme
with clear gender specificity. In the mission to encourage
stopping smoking in pregnancy we should be persistent and
not expect dramatically rapid results as a smoking and pregnancy
programme is just one initiative of many to shift the social
norms of not smoking. To be successful it is really important
to press the message of not smoking long before and after
pregnancy.”
Margaretha
is joined by a number of other experts at the seminar including:
Judith Watt, now an independent
consultant
in tobacco control, formerly the Head of the SmokeFree London
programme; Dr Sinead Jones, Director of BMA Tobacco Control
Resource Centre; Professor Robert West, Professor of Health
Behaviour at University College London; Dr Hayden McRobbie,
Research Fellow, Tobacco Dependence Research and Treatment
Centre, Barts and The London; and Briege Lagan, Midwife,
Causeway HSST.
The seminar is for all those working in the area of smoking
and tobacco control and has been funded by the Department
of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
END
Notes
to the editor
There
will be a media facility on Tuesday 30 March at the Dunadry
Hotel, County Antrim from 11.00am to 11.30am
when a number of the experts will be available for interview.
For further information:
Contact Jenny Dougan on 028 90311514 or 07802
299946.
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