Women who smoke during pregnancy are too ashamed to get help to quit, health chiefs say.
Across Wales, around 16% of mums-to-be smoke throughout their pregnancy with North Wales having one of the highest rates in Wales.
One in five sudden infant deaths is linked to smoking, as well as long term problems in children such as learning difficulties, hyperactivity, ear, nose and throat problems, obesity and diabetes.
The "taboo" around pregnant women smoking has prompted the launch of a specialist service which sees a team of smoking cessation advisors visit women in their own homes for as many appointments as takes for them to quit.
Women in North Wales are referred to the NHS Help Me Quit for Baby project, run by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) and the first of its kind in Wales, by their midwife at any time during their pregnancy.
If a woman agrees to take part in the programme, she is offered weekly specialist support and free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and they also offer support to family members or partners who want to quit.
Help Me Quit for Baby team member Jackie Buckley said: “We take a very non-judgemental approach.
“We tell women that we’re not there to judge them but to get the best support for them to quit smoking.
"If it becomes too clinical then that becomes a barrier so we try to speak to them as we would with a friend and we e ncourage them to be honest, for instance, if there is a blip and they start smoking again.
"It also helps to share stories of other women we have worked with who have managed to stop smoking.
"There is a big taboo around the subject of smoking in pregnancy, and many women feel ashamed of their habit – a feeling that stops some admitting they smoke and seeking help to quit.
"Many women say the only way they can cope with their lives is by smoking.
"They see it as the only way they can have five minutes to themselves.
"So, we encourage them to find other ways to de-stress such as playing a game on their phone instead.
“Often they go round to see their families and everybody gathers together for a smoke.
"It’s a ritual and they still want to be a part of that.
"It’s really important to get them to come up with their own ideas of how to deal with those sorts of situations."
Research has shown that children with parents that smoke are three times more likely to take up the habit in later life.
As well as protecting the health of the unborn baby, the team hopes that by helping women and their families to quit smoking, they can enable the baby to live in a smoke-free home once it is born.
Thanks to the project 238 pregnant women were given help to quit between April 2018 and March 2019, according to the Welsh Government’s latest figures on smoking cessation services.
