SmartStart – Smoke free maternity support in Norfolk and Waveney

Smoking is the largest modifiable risk factor for poor outcomes in pregnancy, including miscarriage, stillbirth and preterm birth. Smoking also increases the baby’s risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS, also known as cot death), low birth weight, ear, nose and throat problems, respiratory conditions such as asthma, obesity, diabetes, behavioural problems and learning difficulties, and even meningitis and some cancers.

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If you quit smoking before 15 weeks, the chance of your baby being born early or at a low birth weight reduces to the same as that of a non-smoker. But even if you give up after the first 15 weeks, this will help your baby. When you smoke, the chemicals in cigarettes affect the blood flow through your placenta to your baby, meaning your baby gets less oxygen and nutrients that it needs to grow and develop, and making your baby’s heart work harder with every cigarette you smoke.

We also know that carbon monoxide and harmful chemicals in cigarettes cross the placenta, which is where the saying “if you smoke, your baby smokes too” comes from. Quitting smoking at any point in your pregnancy will stop these harmful chemicals entering your baby and increase the amount of oxygen and nutrients available to help them thrive.

SmartStart can help you to become and stay smoke free. As part of the SmartStart pathway you will benefit from:

• Tailored, non-judgemental support from a trained, experienced senior maternity tobacco dependency advisor
• A flexible, individualised treatment plan, making it easier to stick to
• Tools and strategies to help make quitting easier
• A variety of treatment options, including free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), free vapes/e-cigarettes, free referral onto Allen Carr Easyway
• Regular support tailored to your lifestyle, either face to face or virtual
• Regular phone call support after successful quit to continue to offer support to remain smoke free, even after your baby is born
• Referral for partners/co-parents into local stop smoking services. Second-hand smoke has been found to be harmful to babies, as well as making it more difficult for you to quit smoking.

Evidence has found that you are more likely to be successful quitting smoking if you have both expert support and treatment, such as NRT or vapes. SmartStart uses both methods and will support you through every stage of your journey to becoming smoke free.

Vapes are now commonly used as a “swap to stop” method of becoming smoke free in pregnancy, and it is thought that vapes are much less harmful to your baby than cigarettes as they do not contain carbon monoxide, or the harmful chemicals found in cigarettes. Vapes can be very effective in quitting smoking, however, are not intended for long term use. Your SmartStart advisor can discuss this in more detail with you.

If you are pregnant and living in Norfolk and Waveney, you can talk to your midwife about referral into the SmartStart service, or you can self-refer through one of the email addresses below:

JPUH - [email protected]

QEHKL - [email protected]

NNUH - [email protected]