This is the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group’s fourth national report which sets out recommendations to accelerate progress in reducing rates of smoking during pregnancy. The manifesto reviews the progress made in reducing maternal smoking rates in the decade since the Challenge Group was established and sets out the action needed to deliver a smokefree start for every child.
High impact recommendations
- Pass legislation to raise the age of sale for tobacco by one year, every year, to reduce smoking prevalence in the age cohort most likely to smoke during pregnancy and create a smokefree generation.
- Introduce a ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco manufacturers to raise funding for the measures needed to deliver a smokefree start for every child.
- Fully implement the national financial incentive scheme and commit to extending the scheme beyond 2024.
- Set out a new target for reducing rates of Smoking Status at Time of Delivery (SATOD) to 4% by 2030, putting England on track to deliver a smokefree start for every child before 2040.
- Ensure NHS tobacco dependence treatment services for pregnant women are fully embedded and sustained long-term.
- Commit to develop and fund models of care to prevent relapse to smoking postnatally.