Quit smoking in pregnancy

Tomorrow is National No Smoking Day and quitting cigarettes is hard at the best of times — but what if you are pregnant?

In Oldham, over a fifth of pregnant women (21.1 per cent) smoke during pregnancy.

In a bid to tackle this, the Stop Smoking in Pregnancy service has for the last year been giving mums-to-be a helping hand.

Reporter BEATRIZ AYALA spoke to a mum-of-three and former smoker who gave up thanks to the service’s help.

MUM Jennifer Sykes beams with pride as she looks down at her new baby daughter Milly Dec Sykes.

Not only is she proud to have given birth to Milly four-weeks ago but also proud for having quit a 15-year smoking habit.

Jennifer (25), from Verne Drive, Sholver, has been smoke free for five months and is determined to stay that way.

The mother-of-three, who had her first cigarette aged just 10, smoked while pregnant with her eldest daughter Ellie (5) and son Dylan (2).

But she decided to take steps during her third pregnancy.

Jennifer admits that her age and lack of information meant she never really considered giving up her 20-a-day habit while expecting her two eldest children.

She said: “I just wasn’t interested. Health staff told me smoking during my pregnancy was bad but didn’t explain why.

“No one actually sat me down and taught me about the dangers. But I don’t think I would have listened anyway.”

The change came at the start of her third pregnancy when daughter Ellie told her she feared she would die from smoking.

She said: “My little girl had spotted the TV adverts about stopping smoking and told me I would die because I smoked.

“I had to explain to her that I wouldn’t just drop dead on the spot but it was quite scary to hear that from your daughter.

“I was also worried about my kids seeing me smoking so I spoke to my midwife and got into contact with Debbie McGiffen.”

The community nursery nurse, who is specially trained to help pregnant women quit, made weekly visits to Jennifer’s house to talk about the effects of smoking on babies and offer practical advice.

Jennifer said: “I found the weekly sessions great because she came to me and it was one-to-one advice.

“We talked about smoking, ways of coping and the money I would be saving by giving up.

“She also tested the levels of oxygen I was preventing Milly from getting in the womb which was really shocking, but that reduced every week.

“It was nothing like being lectured and Debbie was very encouraging, even after I was unsuccessful the first time I tried to give up at the start of the pregnancy.

“I don’t think I would have given up without her.”

Jennifer finally gave up cigarettes during the fifth month of the pregnancy.

She said: “I feel great and it has made a big difference. I look at pictures of myself smoking and it looks wrong.

“When I get stressed, I still get cravings for cigarettes but now I know how to work through it. “I feel very proud of what I’ve achieved and Milly knows that I’m not going to die from smoking.”

Debbie McGiffen (47), based in Uppermill, has been involved with the no smoking service for the past five years.

She is now is part of a team that works for the Stop Smoking in Pregnancy team, which is run by Oldham Community Health Service, part of NHS Oldham.

She said: “I give intensive support to pregnant mums and their families on a one-to-one basis, so I work with women right through their pregnancy and after birth.

“As well as mums, I help any members in the family unit who smoke whether grandparents or partners.”

Mums are generally referred to the service through their midwives or health professionals, and the team is on hand to make weekly visits to the family home.

She said: “I don’t think mums understand the harm smoking can do to their babies. “Some think smoke goes into their lungs and that’s it, they don’t realise the health effects.

“Smokers have a higher risk of having babies with smaller birth weight, women who smoke have a higher risk of miscarriage and smoking can cause complications in pregnancy and labour.”

Debbie admits that it can be especially challenging to give up smoking while pregnant because of increased stress, lots of physical changes and sleepless nights.

Amanda Elsworth, public health nurse Stop Smoking in Pregnancy service, said there have been over 300 referrals to the service over the past 12 months, including family members of pregnant women.

Last year, 2,987 pregnant women in the region successfully stopped smoking with the NHS Stop Smoking Service.

Contact Oldham’s specialist stop smoking service on 0800 328 8534 or the NHS Pregnancy Smoking Helpline between 12noon and 9pm on 0800 169 9 169 and find out where their local service is.




Smoking: what happens inside



AS the smoke goes into your lungs. chemcials within it, such as carbon monoxide, are absorbed into your bloodstream.

Some of the oxygen in the blood is replaced by carbon monoxide, which can greatly reduce the amount of oxygen reaching your baby’s developing lungs.

With the oxygen supply restricted, a baby’s tiny heart has to beat harder and can become overworked before the muscle fibres have fully developed.. This can store up problems at birth — and long into the future




Top tips for pregnant women going smoke free



Throw away your ashtrays, matches and lighters.



Put all the money you’re saving by not smoking in a clear jar every day and watch how fast it grows.

Tell everyone that your home is a smoke-free zone.

Work out when and where you used to smoke and think of ways to avoid them, such as getting up after dinner to go and put some hand cream on.

If you’re really finding it tough, there are some nicotine replacement therapies that are safe to use in pregnancy and they’re free on prescription.

Quitting smoking can be stressful so chill out by taking a soak in the bath whenever you can.

Put scan pictures around the house, especially in places you used to smoke.