MORE pregnant smokers in Bradford are being referred to services to help them quit.

High smoking rates recorded at the time of delivery at the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital, led to the introduction of a three-year programme to tackle the issue.

Partnership work between the midwifery service and public health has seen referral of pregnant smokers to evidence-based 'stop smoking' services increase from 25 per cent in 2014/15 to 82 per cent in 2017/18, now fully complying with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

Carolyn Sadler, Stop Smoking Pregnancy Lead, said: "Having a stop smoking specialist midwife based in the midwifery service has been key to embedding actions to tackle smoking throughout the antenatal care pathway.

"Working in partnership to improve the health of mothers and their babies we endeavour to put all pregnant women at the centre of our work, to ensure pregnant smokers and their partners get the support they need to become smokefree from the first antenatal appointment through to delivery."

The programme has been highlighted amid the launch of Health Secretary Matt Hancock's 'prevention is better than the cure' vision.

In a keynote speech in London, he highlighted the importance of people paying more attention to their responsibilities, as well as their rights, when it comes to the NHS.