Stories from other women
In this section you can read stories from others who successfully gave up smoking during pregnancy. We have used different names to protect the identity of the people involved.
Emily (aged 25)
At the start of my pregnancy, I was smoking three to five cigarettes a day as I was finding it difficult to stop smoking. As my pregnancy went along and Naomi (Maternity Health Adviser at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust) got in contact with me with support to help me stop smoking, I started to make moves myself after being told the risk factors it has on my baby. I chose to have tea or coffee instead of a cigarette.
It was around week 31/32 when Naomi (pictured) got in contact, and I lost hope and thought it was too late to be able to stop.
Naomi (pictured) then offered me a nicotine inhalator and patches which I used when I felt like a cigarette. By week 36/37 I was having one cigarette a day, not because I felt like it but because it was more of a habit of having something in my mouth and smoking. I feel like the inhalator helped me more than the patches.
I fully stopped smoking around five weeks before I had my baby, my baby is now 6 weeks old. I never thought I was going to do it as my husband also smokes and I found it really hard when he was smoking around me, but with the support from Naomi and telling myself I can do it, not for me, but for my baby. I did it.
Naomi was fantastic with her support and went the extra mile. I was suffering with severe morning sickness, so she posted my patches out to me on two occasions, and then left them weekly with my midwife to collect when I had my appointments. Thank you so much for your support!
Joanna (aged 23)
April 2023
23 year old Joanna is expecting her first baby and lives at home with dad, who is also a smoker. Before getting ready to go to work, Joanna would make a brew and roll up a cigarette at the start of the day. The number of roll ups she smoked during the day would vary although usually not more than 10.
When Joanna found out she was pregnant, she initially declined any support to quit. However, at 16 weeks and following a conversation with Maternity Health Adviser,Naomi, about lifestyle, smoking habits, healthy eating during pregnancy and vitamins, together they agreed a care plan. That care plan included weekly support on the phone and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) patches through the post. Joanna would put a patch on in the morning and keep it on for the recommended 16 hours and used a vape when she needed to.
Although Joanna struggled to give up at first, thanks to the patches, she cut down on her tobacco use and agreed 14 March 2023 would be the day to quit altogether. When 14 March arrived, Joanna removed all temptation from view and applied a patch as soon as she got up. Naomi was delighted to get a text from Joanna saying that she’d gone all day without smoking.
Naomi also offered to refer Joanna’s dad to an external stop smoking service but he didn’t want to take up that offer. Instead, Joanna made him aware of the risk of passive smoking to her and baby’s health and asked him to go outside when having a cigarette.
After five weeks of using the patches Joanna felt she no longer needed them. Naomi was there every step of the way to encourage Joanna and offer support when she had a wobble or felt anxious. Carbon monoxide readings dropped massively to a safe level. Exposure to carbon monoxide, which can be caused by smoking during pregnancy, affects a growing baby’s access to oxygen, which is needed for healthy growth and development.
On the feedback form, Joanna said:
“Naomi has been so supportive throughout my journey to stopping smoking, checking in regularly and offering me great advice and reassurance every time we spoke. She made me feel confident that I could speak to her if I had any other concerns or needed any other support throughout. She also sent me some vitamins which helped massively. I’m not sure I’d have managed to get to this stage without her support! She’s a credit to the NHS!”
Joanna is delighted to be a non-smoker and knows that she can contact Naomi if she needs any more support. This mum can – and did.
Midwife, Zoe's story
Airedale's new in-house stop smoking service shows commitment to the health of the women and their babies say patients. Zoe Ludgate, Early Intervention Midwife at Airedale General Hospital, tells us about the work being carried out by Airedale NHS Foundation Trust to reduce smoking in pregnancy and cut the smoking status at time of delivery (SATOD) rates. Read more about the support available and the service provided on our the difference our partnership is making pages.