Smoking in pregnancy rates fall in Tameside

New figures reveal the number of women in Greater Manchester smoking during pregnancy has fallen for the sixth consecutive year – and the biggest decrease has been in Tameside.

Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust has seen the biggest reduction in smoking in pregnancy in the city-region, with a significant reduction, from 11.6% in 2022-23 to 6.9% in 2023-24. Quitting smoking is crucial for a healthy pregnancy and to give babies and children the best start in life.

The Maternity Tobacco Dependency Service play a key role in the ambition of making smoking history in Tameside. Helping pregnant women and expectant parents to be smokefree supports Tameside’s efforts to reduce harmful exposure to tobacco for unborn babies. This is also important in de-normalising smoking and preventing young people from seeing smoking behaviour around them and being exposed to second-hand smoke.

People in Tameside have lots of opportunities to access free stop smoking support, in addition to the Maternity Tobacco Dependency Service for pregnant women to have a smokefree pregnancy. Residents can also access free stop smoking support through Be Well Tameside, get 24/7 stop smoking support with the Smoke Free app or speak with their GP for stop smoking support.

Tameside Council Executive Member Population Health & Well-being Cllr Eleanor Wills said: “We are very proud to have had the biggest decrease in figures and would like to thank the teams involved in making this happen.

“The Maternity Tobacco Dependency Service’s commitment to supporting expectant mums to have a smokefree pregnancy, not only benefits babies by giving them the best start in life, but also benefits the mum and family.  Reducing risk of smoking related ill-health, de-normalising smoking for children and young people and reducing exposure to second-hand smoke to others in the household.

“We know it can take multiple attempts to quit smoking for good and encourage people in Tameside who smoke to explore the range of stop smoking support available to them. Providing stop smoking support to reduce smoking rates and by de-normalising smoking are key steps to working towards a smokefree generation in Tameside.”

The Tameside Tobacco-free Plan sets out Tameside’s whole system approach to making smoking history in Tameside, and Maternity Tobacco Dependency Team are a key partner and service to help us achieve this ambition.  For more information on support, visit here.