Scotland: BMA urges parents to quit smoking together for the sake of their families

Unborn babies in Scotland are being put at risk because their parents smoke, the BMA has said. Despite the number of mothers smoking at the start of pregnancy having dropped since 1995, numbers remain high at around 20%. BMA Scotland is urging parents to mark National No Smoking Day by giving up smoking for the sake of their family's health.
Dr Sally Winning, Deputy Chairman of the BMA in Scotland said:
"Around one in five women smoke during pregnancy and, although this is an improvement on previous years, it reflects the lack of knowledge among Scots about the health risks of smoking, not only to themselves, but to the health of their children. Smoking while pregnant can have long term effects on the health of a baby. Maternal smoking in pregnancy is a cause of low birth weight in babies and has been linked to cot death. We would urge women smokers who are pregnant or who are considering becoming pregnant to discuss ways of giving up with their GP, pharmacist or health visitor.
"Partners and families also have a role to play. They can help pregnant women stop smoking by undertaking to quit at the same time - it's much easier doing it together. In addition they will be helping reduce exposure to second hand smoke, which is also a risk to pregnant women; it has been linked to low-birth weight and premature birth."
"As part of a broader strategy on tobacco, it is essential that the Scottish Government tackles the issue of parental smoking. Parents should be educated about the effects of smoking, not just on their own health, but to their children. We need to offer more smoking cessation support to adults and parents to help those who wish to stop smoking stay stopped.
"In the longer term, if parents continue to smoke, they are exposing their child to secondhand tobacco smoke which has been linked to cot death and has been proven to increase the risk of ear and lung infections and asthma in children.'
"Children whose parents smoke are twice as likely to become smokers themselves. We must act now to break this cycle of tobacco addiction."

Source: Medical News Today, 02 June 2010