§ Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what estimate he has made of the effect on the maternal mortality rate of smoking; and how the mortality figures compare as between smoking and non-smoking mothers;
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on new-born babies of mothers who are smokers.
§ Mr. RossNo maternal deaths have been recorded in Scotland as due to causes associated with cigarette smoking. Apart from the health risks that are
192Wcommitted by young people between 17 and 21 years of age.
§ Mr. RossThe information is contained in the following tables.
Table I sets out the number of cases of murder and crimes of violence made known to the police in Scotland for each of the years 1961–67. Table II sets out the number of persons convicted of murder and crimes of violence in each of these years and, for murder and certain of the main crimes of violence, the proportion of those convicted who were aged between 17 and 21 years of age. I regret that similar figures for other crimes of violence are not readily available.
involved in smoking at any time there is no evidence that women who smoke incur greater risks to their health during or as a consequence of their pregnancy than women who do not smoke.
A number of studies have shown that the infants of mothers who smoke during pregnancy tend to be smaller at birth than those of mothers who do not.