Mums-to-be face breath test to see if they smoke

PREGNANT women will face carbon monoxide tests to check if they or their partners smoke under NHS plans to reduce stillbirths.

Mothers-to-be will be encouraged to take the breath test in hospital to flag if their unborn baby is being exposed to harmful levels of the poisonous gas.

NHS bosses believe the measure will save lives and improve the health of both parents and their babies for years to come. But critics label the tests ‘nannying’ and say they cross the line.

Women have long been warned about the dangers of smoking while pregnant, including an increased chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, small birth rate and other health problems.

Yet more than one in ten – 65,000 every year in England alone – smoke through pregnancy. While health professionals ask women if they smoke, many do not admit it to avoid stigma or because it is hard to stop.

But now pregnant women will be routinely screened at 12 weeks and 36 weeks. Those with positive results will be offered specialist help to quit and retested at antenatal appointments.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed news of the scheme – which begins in July – as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to halve the number of stillbirths by 2025. He said: ‘The number of women smoking in pregnancy is at a record low – but too many still suffer a stillbirth as a result of smoking. Today’s important plans are about our continuing commitment to address this.’

According to the children’s charity Tommy’s, nine babies are stillborn every day, with the risk 52 per cent higher in women who smoke ten cigarettes a day.

The tests will be able to detect whether the mother’s partner smokes and whether they live in a smoke-free home. Midwives will be better trained to spot the warning signs that are linked to stillbirth, including a foetus growing slowly or reduced movement by a baby later in pregnancy.

The national scheme follows a pilot, which health bosses credit for saving 160 babies’ lives.

Ministers are considering increasing the smoking age from 18 to 21. Hospital staff have also been urged to look out for patients who drink heavily or smoke in an drive to prevent ill health. Clare Livingstone, of the Royal College of Midwives said: ‘Reducing smoking in pregnancy is one of the key things to reduce the UK’s stillbirth rate.’

Simon Clark, of the smokers’ group Forest, said: ‘This is incredibly intrusive and will only add to the anxiety many women experience during pregnancy.

‘Ultimately, this is a matter for the individual not the state. There are lines that should not be crossed and this is one of them.’