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Smoking When Pregnant

29 January 2015

By Yasmine

A new research suggests that pregnant smokers are more likely to quit if they are paid to stop smoking. 600 women from Glasgow took part in the British Medical Journal research to determine whether they would give up smoking if they were paid to do so. The 600 women were split in to two groups; the first group received a £400 shopping voucher and the second group received face-to-face appointments with a ‘quit smoking’ advisor, four follow-up phone calls and free nicotine replacement therapy for ten weeks.

More than 20 percent of the women given the vouchers quit smoking compared to only nine percent giving up cigarettes with the normal NHS support alone.

Around 5,000 foetuses and babies die every year in the UK as a result of their mother smoking during their pregnancy. It is estimated that it costs the NHS £64 million annually for problems linked to women smoking when they are pregnant and around £23.5 million annually is spent on infants affected by their smoking mums.

Can you really put a price on your unborn child’s life? And does it really take a bit of retail therapy to make women kick the habit for the sake of that unborn’s life?

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