“Smoking during pregnancy – Perinatal outcomes, financial implications, and tobacco treatment services”

OBJECTIVE: Smoking in pregnancy is the leading modifiable risk factor for poor pregnancy outcomes. A sample population from United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust (ULHT), with the highest prevalence of smoking at the time of delivery (SATOD) in England from April 2020 to March 2021 was studied. The project mapped the journey of women who smoked during pregnancy until birth and compared with a non-smoking cohort. In addition, it explored the options for possible changes to the current tobacco treatment service and importance of catering to the population demographics. METHODS: Data was analysed using Chi-squared or Mann Whitney and student T-test for categorical and continuous variables respectively. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: All women who smoked during pregnancy were referred to the stop smoking service. However, only 34.9 % accessed the service. Smoking mothers were younger (P = 0.001), had more complex obstetric history (P = 0.044), required increased fetal surveillance (P=<0.001), delivered at an earlier gestation (P = 0.033), and had babies with lower birth-weight (P=<0.001) compared to non-smokers. In addition, women who smoked demonstrated a downward trend in breast feeding their babies at birth and on discharge (P=<0.001 and P=<0.001 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the study informed a successful business case for improvements to the current tobacco treatment service and the development of in-house maternity model for pregnant smokers at ULHT.