Hilary Wareing Director, Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre, Warwick
Abstract
Following research into the barriers perceived by midwifery staff when discussing smoking with pregnant women, Fresh has implemented a systematic and regional approach to reducing maternal smoking levels across the North East. “BabyClear”, has been developed by the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre (TCCC) and delivered training and resources to a range of front-line staff, to facilitate:
- Identification of pregnant smokers at their first booking appointment through systematic use of CO monitoring and automatic referral to support
- Delivery of a more intensive risk perception intervention at time of dating scan to those women who continue to smoke
- SSS advisors and admin staff supporting pregnant women more effectively
- Provision of consistent resources/consumables to enable all of the above
Whilst maternal smoking remains a significant challenge for the North East, this approach has enabled us to comply with (and go further than) relevant NICE guidance, and has ensured a more systematic approach to identifying and supporting pregnant smokers. This presentation will explore the challenges of implementing a standardised approach to this topic across eight diverse Foundation Trusts, and how these have been overcome. It will also look at early results, and plans to sustain this work.
Source of funding: None
Declaration of interest: babyClear has been funding by the Fresh regional tobacco control budget, and from one-off funding via the North East SHA
