You may have heard Pat Nurse on Five Live Breakfast this morning.
As a smoker who puffed her way through four (?) pregnancies, Pat was invited to discuss a new report, published today by the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group which is led by The Lullaby Trust and the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS) and supported by ASH.
It might be easier, and quicker, to reproduce parts of the press release we received yesterday. (It was embargoed until midnight.)
A coalition of baby charities, campaigners, leading academics and health experts is calling for a national Carbon Monoxide (CO) screening programme for mums-to-be to help save more babies’ lives ...
Smoking is the main cause of high levels of CO in pregnant women, but a raised CO reading can also be due to breathing in second-hand smoke, the inhalation of fumes from faulty exhausts, or poorly ventilated cooking or heating appliances.
Members of the Challenge Group, which also includes the Royal College of Midwives, Tommy’s and the Royal College of Nursing, have come together for the first time to recommend urgent action to help pregnant women identify whether they have high CO levels that may be damaging to the health of their baby.
Offering every pregnant woman in the country a simple breath test to identify her level of exposure to CO, will allow smokers to consider quitting, and non-smokers to identify whether they have had any involuntary exposure from other sources such as faulty appliances ...
The Lullaby Trust’s Chief Executive Francine Bates, said: “We know that smoking in pregnancy is a significant risk factor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). It’s been estimated that over 100 SIDS deaths could be prevented every year if no pregnant woman smoked.
“Mothers under 20 are five times more likely to suffer the tragedy of SIDS than those over 30. They are also more likely to smoke and find it difficult to understand why smoking has such a devastating impact on their baby’s health. Immediate results from a quick and simple test, together with the support from their midwife could persuade many young women to kick their habit”
Professor Linda Bauld, from the University of Stirling and the UKCTCS, said: “Smoking in the UK kills one baby every day. That’s why this Government’s ambition is so important.
“Unfortunately, unless we take urgent additional action this target will not be met. This report is a call to action to the government, health professionals, baby charities and researchers, but most of all it’s a call to action to mothers: understand the harm, protect your baby.”
The quote that stands out is the extraordinary claim by our old friend Professor Bauld that “Smoking in the UK kills one baby every day."
For an academic, Prof Bauld certainly has a way with soundbites.
I'm less impressed by her casual attitude to detail. Note how she says, "Smoking in the UK kills one baby every day", not "Smoking during pregnancy kills one baby every day".
If the latter was true (which I don't believe it is) that would be a pretty arresting statement. Instead, like all tobacco control campaigners, Bauld wants to implicate all smokers.
The aim, conscious or otherwise, is to make all smokers feel guilty.
To download the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group report click here – Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy: a call to action.
Here's Forest's response to the press release (not the report, which we hadn't read at that point):
Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said: "We support initiatives that educate and inform women about the risks of smoking during pregnancy, but this has the potential to be quite invasive.
"If a screening programme is voluntary there's no problem. No-one however should be forced to take a carbon monoxide test or made to feel like a leper if they decline. It's their choice and their decision must be respected."
He added: "We don't condone smoking during pregnancy and we would always advise pregnant women to listen to their GP or midwife.
"Nevertheless the suggestion that smoking during pregnancy costs one baby's life every day sounds like a headline grabbing estimate rather than an undisputed fact based on scientific evidence.
"Pregnancy is a stressful time for many women. Alarming them with emotive soundbites is not going to help."
Interestingly, and despite the gold dust nature of Linda Bauld's incendiary comment, the media has reacted rather coolly to her claim that “Smoking in the UK kills one baby every day".
Apart from Five Live, and a cursory report in the Daily Mirror, I'm struggling to find any coverage of the report in print or online.
PS. Pat has emailed to say she is also doing BBC Three Counties radio. If there is any further coverage today I'll update this post.
H/T Dick Puddlecote – The report is the subject of the Five Live phone-in.