WALES has the highest number of women smoking during pregnancy in the UK with one-in-six lighting up while expecting, a new report has revealed.
The Tobacco and Health in Wales report, published today by the Public Health Wales Observatory and the Welsh Government, revealed that 16% of mothers in Wales smoked throughout their pregnancy in 2010, compared to a UK average of 12%.
The figure is highest among women under 20 with nearly one in three in this age range smoking while pregnant.
In the same period, 12% of mothers in England smoked during their pregnancy, while Northern Ireland and Scotland saw 15% and 13% respectively.
The figure of one-in-six pregnant women smoking in Wales is comparable to last year’s figure but experts say the number is coming down slowly.
Helen Rogers, director for Wales at the Royal College of Midwives, said: “These figures are worryingly high and those on women under 20 are alarming. Urgent action is needed to tackle this.
“Smoking in pregnancy can have serious and long term effects on the developing baby, and the effects on the smoker themselves are well documented and supported by a substantial body of evidence.
“We know that quitting smoking is not easy and we need to be doing all we can to support these women to stop smoking and to send out a strong public health message to those who have not started. “It is easier to not begin smoking at all than it is to stop when you are pregnant. Also if you are pregnant now and know the damage that your smoking can do to you and your baby, then please take action and speak to your midwife.”
Elen de Lacy, chief executive of ASH Wales, said: “Rates of smoking during pregnancy are coming down, but they are coming down too slowly.
“It’s a big issue for us in Wales. We should be focussing on stopping young girls becoming the smokers of tomorrow.
“We should be looking at why girls are smoking through pregnancy. There are some girls who find out they are pregnant and stop straight away and there are others that do not seem to be able to stop and we need to find out the reasons for this – is it education?
“There are still myths around smoking and we need to raise awareness of the harm they are causing their babies, not just in the womb but also in the early years.”
The report also found that smoking was estimated to have caused 5,450 of 30,550 deaths of Wales residents aged 35 and older.
Meanwhile, an estimated 27,690 hospital admissions are caused by smoking each year with the majority of these for circulatory and respiratory conditions and malignant cancers.
Although smoking prevalence has fallen considerably since the 1970s, it has remained just below 25% since 2007. The current estimate of smokers is 23% of adults in Wales.
The Welsh Government’s Tobacco Control Action Plan hopes to see this fall to 16% 2020.
Smoking prevalence was found to be highest in the most deprived areas including the South Wales Valleys, South Cardiff and Barry.
Nathan Lester, head of the Observatory analytical team, said: “The prevalence of smoking is not coming down as fast as we would like. This rate remains particularly high for Wales’ deprived areas.
“It’s very difficult when it comes to economically deprived areas – it could be due to high unemployment or a number of other factors.
“I think what we are doing is the right thing, we just need to stick at it and keep going.”
Dr Judith Greenacre, director of Health Intelligence for Public Health Wales said: “I think things are moving in the right direction with the measures that are in place but this report highlights how much further we must go.
“It’s really hard to say why the rates are higher in deprived areas or why people take up smoking. There is a long standing health risk of smoking but that can be harder to teach than in some areas and it depends on what people relate to and what seems normal to them.
“It’s a long, hard struggle of trying different approaches, there is no magic answer.
“This information in the report should be used to assist stakeholders in taking action to prevent young people from starting to smoke, helping smoking to quit and reducing exposure to second hand smoke.”
Although the introduction of the smoking ban in 2007 has considerably reduced second-hand exposure to smoke, there are also still concerns about children’s vulnerability to exposure in the home and in cars.
The Welsh Government said there were a number of programmes in place to take to try to reduce the rate of smoking in Wales and tackle the issue of smoke exposure.
Dr Tony Jewell, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said: “Tobacco continues to be the largest single preventable cause of ill health and premature death in Wales.
“The Welsh Government’s Tobacco Control Action Plan aims to reduce smoking rates to 16% by 2020 and ultimately, envisions a smoke-free Wales.
“Through the Fresh Start Wales campaign, the Welsh Government is also addressing children’s exposure to second-hand smoke by bringing home to parents the risk their smoking poses to the health of our children.”