Chapter 1: Give every child the best start in life

Smoking at the time of delivery by mother's ethnicity was also explored, but these values have not been shared as there may be some risk of identification due to low overall numbers.

In Gateshead, support is offered to stop smoking through our participating GP practices, pharmacies and community providers. All stop smoking advisors attend local stop smoking training and are trained to support pregnant women to quit smoking.

In 2021, Gateshead Council provided Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust with additional funding to support development of the Tobacco Dependency Treatment Service (TDTS). Longer term, this service would be funded by NHS Long Term Plan funding but this initial investment has allowed staff to be appointed and the service to launch well ahead of other areas in the region and even nationally Gateshead is a pioneer in the development of their TDTS service.

The TDTS launched in April 2022 and follows the NHS recommended model which is based on a proven model implemented in Canada and Manchester. This supports our commitments to the prevention of smoking and tackling avoidable illness. By 2023/2024 all people admitted to hospital who smoke will be offered NHS funded tobacco treatment services.

For pregnant women, the offer is more intense and is delivered directly by maternity services. It expands on recommendations in NICE guidance (NG92) to drive engagement which includes four weekly face to-face behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy. Appointments can be in clinic, in the community or at home, so that the needs of the woman are met. Further appointments throughout pregnancy are offered to help women remain smokefree and to prevent relapse. If there have been no responses, the maternity service will continue to reach out to offer support and encouragement.