Somerset mums are having healthier pregnancies and ‘smokefree’ lives thanks to the support they receive during and after their pregnancy.

Last year was a record breaking year for the Mums2Be Smokefree service (M2Bs), with 504 women using the Somerset County Council funded service to support their attempt to quit smoking, and 292 (58%) of them being successful. These numbers are an increase on 2015/16 when 423 women used the service, up 19%, and 232 quit, up 26%.

Unlike the standard Smokefreelife Somerset service, Mums2Be staff support women throughout their pregnancy and for up to two months after birth. The service works closely with the midwifery teams in local hospitals to ensure that as many women as possible who smoke are referred for support to quit. The end result is fewer miscarriages and stillbirths, many more healthy babies being delivered, and there are more homes that are ‘smokefree’ for the growing families.

The service also offers professional and peer support through a Facebook group, available 24/7 where women help each other through cravings and to avoid relapsing to smoking.

Cllr. Christine Lawrence, Cabinet Member with responsibilty for Public Health and Wellbeing said: “Smoking is the leading preventable cause of bad birth outcomes in pregnancy, so assisting women to quit is vitally important for healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.

“Preventing just one very low weight birth could save public services hundreds of thousands of pounds in health, special needs education and social care, so investing in prevention like this makes perfect sense.

“I’m delighted so many women are choosing to use this service, supporting each other on Facebook, and sharing their positive feedback about the support they receive. This is helping to give children the best possible start in life.”

Somerset also offers brief advice for smoking in pregnancy training to Midwives for four years as part of their mandatory training, ensuring that every Midwife knows how to raise the subject, address the issues and refer to the service.

Every pregnant woman has a carbon monoxide screen at their booking visit and at each subsequent ante natal visit to assess their smoking status and every smoker is referred to the M2Bs service.

Emma (28) from Glastonbury, Somerset gave up with the help of M2Bs service at the start of her second pregnancy. She said: “My Midwife suggested I use the M2Bs service. Professional stop smoking advisers come to your house and help you to stop smoking and offer stop smoking products to choose from. When you have your carbon monoxide levels tested it shows just how much goes directly into your growing baby inside which is an eye-opener.”

“The Facebook group advisers are there 24/7 to give encouragement and help you deal with cravings. All the mums share experiences and many post a photograph of their new ‘smokefree’ baby after they have given birth. That’s a real achievement.”