Stop smoking in pregnancy
February is the month of love and if you’re a pregnant smoker, give yourself and your unborn baby the best gift ever by going smokefree for life.
Our award-winning Smokefree Pregnancy Team helped 105 babies to be born smokefree last year by supporting their parents to quit smoking and vaping, and they can help you if you are struggling or don’t know where to start.
Quitting smoking is the most important thing you can do to for the health of your baby. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas released when you light your cigarette, and it replaces oxygen in your blood, lowering your baby’s oxygen supply and preventing them from growing properly. If you continue to smoke in your pregnancy your baby is likely to be born weak and small and they will have an increased chance of needing to be admitted to intensive care after birth.
Our team provides non-judgemental help and will introduce you to other people who are also trying to quit so you can feel supported by others in the same position as you are. You’ll also be given vapes, nicotine patches, gum, inhalators or mouth sprays to help you to control the nicotine urges to support you, and up to £400 if you quit for good.
It’s a great way to give your baby the best start in life, and you’ll be doing something incredible for your own health and wellbeing.
Sign up at Smokefree Pregnancy Service.
Tell us how your maternity care was
We’re encouraging anyone whose baby we helped to deliver this year to tell us how we did by taking part in a national survey.
If your baby was born in January or February 2026, you may be invited to share your thoughts on the quality of care and support you received during your pregnancy, labour and birth, and after you and your baby went home with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The CQC’s survey will take place in April everyone who’s invited to take part will receive a letter containing details about how to complete the survey. You will also receive information on how to complete the survey in a different language, or a different format (e.g. Braille, easy read, large print).
Everything you share is confidential and your responses will not be shared with our staff.
The results will be published in Autumn 2026 and we’ll use them to improve what we do so we can continue providing the very best care for you and your baby and support our community. If you’re contacted, please do take part to help make a difference to NHS maternity care. For more information about the survey, please visit the CQC’s Tell us what maternity care is like for you in 2026 page.
