Women in the North-East are around three times more likely to be smokers at the time of giving birth than women in London, new figures out today from the NHS Information Centre reveal.

Provisional statistics presented in Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England, Quarter 3, 2011/12 point to a North-South divide in the proportion of mums who classed themselves as smokers at the time they deliver their babies.

Across England, 13.4 per cent of women were smokers at the time of giving birth. However, the proportion was considerably higher in every strategic health authority (SHA) area in the north of England than it was in those in the south.

Today is the first time Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England has been published by the NHS Information Centre. Previously the report was published the Department of Health.

The provisional quarterly figures showed that for women who gave birth in England during the quarter:

• While more than one in eight (13.4 per cent) classed themselves as smokers at the time of delivery, the figure has gradually fallen over time and stood at more than one in seven (15.1 per cent) in 2006/7 .
• North East SHA had the highest proportion of women who smoke at the time of delivery – 20.2 per cent or one in five – while London SHA had the lowest proportion of women who class themselves as smokers at the time of delivery – 6.1 per cent (one in sixteen).
• Blackpool primary care trust (PCT) was the place that had the highest percentage of women who were smokers at the time of delivery – 30.3 per cent – compared with anywhere else in England.
• Brent PCT had the smallest proportion of women who smoked at the time of delivery – 2.8 per cent.

The NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said:

“Smoking can cause a range of serious health problems, including lower birth weight, pre-term birth, placental complications and perinatal mortality.

“The statistics we have published today highlight stark regional variation in the proportion of women smoking at the time of giving birth. They will be of considerable interest to those responsible for promoting good health during and after pregnancy.

“The NHS Information Centre has taken over responsibility for this quarterly publication from the Department of Health. The full 2011/12 report is expected to be published in May 2012.”

Further data is available at www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/wsstd1112q3

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The NHS Information Centre (the NHS IC) will in future be known as the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). This is the formal, legal name of the organisation and reflects its broader social care responsibilities.
2. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care (The NHS IC) is England's authoritative, central, independent source of health and social care information. It works with a wide range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
3. National level comparisons cannot be made with years prior to 2006/07 as the 95 per cent coverage standard required for publication was not achieved in earlier years.
4. Chapter 3 of the Infant Feeding Survey 2010: Early Results available at www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/infantfeeding10 contains survey-based information on smoking status of mothers throughout their pregnancy. It also contains analyses which illustrate the strong association between smoking throughout pregnancy and variables such as socio-economic classification and age of mother. The regional variations highlighted in this press notice are likely to be explained to a certain extent by these associations. For example, regions with higher proportions of mothers in more deprived socio-economic categories are likely to show a higher proportion of women smoking at the time of delivery. Furthermore, regions with higher proportions of female smokers are also likely to show a higher proportion of women smoking at the time of delivery. Table 1.11 of the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) 2009 Report available at www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ghs/general-lifestyle-survey/2009-report/smoking-and-drinking-among-adults--2009.pdf presents the prevalence of cigarette smoking among women by region of England.
5. Maternities are assigned to a PCT / SHA according to the geographical location of the GP surgery they are registered at.
6. This data collection is designed to provide a measure of the prevalence of smoking among women at the time of giving birth at a local level. It supplements the national information available from the five yearly Infant Feeding Survey (IFS). The 2010 IFS states that just over a quarter of mothers (26 per cent) in England smoked at some point in the 12 months immediately before or during their pregnancy. Of mothers who smoked before or during their pregnancy, just over half (55 per cent) gave up at some point before the birth.
7. Reducing smoking during pregnancy is one of the three national ambitions in the Tobacco Control Plan published in March 2011 (www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_124960.pdf), which is “to reduce rates of smoking throughout pregnancy to 11 per cent or less by the end of 2015 (measured at time of giving birth)".
8. Previous reports in the series are at www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/Statisticalpublichealth/DH_124185
9. For media enquires please call 0845 257 6990 or email mediaenquiries@ic.nhs.uk