Smoking Cessation Support for Pregnant Women Provided by English Stop Smoking Services and National Health Service Trusts: A Survey

Reducing smoking rates in pregnancy continues to be a public health priority. Given a recent UK government policy change resulting in The National Health Service (NHS) making a significant new contribution to cessation support in pregnancy in England, in addition to that of Local Authorities (LA), an up-to-date assessment of national support offered to pregnant women is needed. LA Stop Smoking Service (SSS) managers and representatives from maternity services in NHS Trusts were invited to participate in an online survey in autumn 2020. Topics included service configuration, staffing, practitioner consultations and treatments offered. The survey response rate was 66% (99/151) of LAs and 68% (95/140) of Trusts. Most LAs provided smoking support for pregnant smokers (78%), whereas under half (43%) of NHS Trusts did. Combination nicotine replacement therapy, i.e., a combination of a patch and short-acting product, was offered by LAs (92%) and Trusts (95%) and most commonly for 12 weeks duration, at 53% and 50%, respectively. Similar national online training was undertaken by those supporting women, with the majority undertaking the specialist pregnancy-specific module: LAs 60% and Trusts 79%. However, clinicians were reported to deliver specialist stop smoking support in over 50% of Trusts, whereas this was reported in only 16% of LAs. In England, both LA and NHS Trusts are currently delivering similar stop smoking support to pregnant women. Having nationally recognised treatment programmes and training allows for the delivery of consistent, evidence-based smoking cessation to pregnant women in different healthcare settings.