Bounty

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has called for further investment in projects to help mums-to-be stop smoking.

The demand came as new figures from the NHS Information Centre revealed more people in England have kicked the habit than ever before thanks to help from the NHS, with 373,954 successfully quitting in 2009/10 - an 11% rise on the previous year.

But the RCM warned that a failure to provide continued investment in projects used to spread the message that smoking in pregnancy has negative effects on the woman and her child could undo all the hard work.

Gail Johnson, RCM education and professional development adviser, said: "If midwives can help and encourage more pregnant women to understand why it is so important to stop smoking, it will lead to a healthier mother and a healthier baby."

For those attempting to give up, 65% used nicotine replacement therapy, a method which proved successful for 47% of those trying to stub out the habit.

Copyright Press Association 2010