HC Deb 29 October 2002 vol 391 cc748-9W
Dr. Evan Harris

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the smoking percentage rates among women during pregnancy in each year since 1990 in(a) England and (b) each NHS region. [75638]

Jacqui Smith

Information on smoking in pregnancy is obtained from the infant feeding survey, which is carried out every five years; the most recent survey was in 2000. The results are not analysed by national health service region. The available information is given in the tables.

Table 1. Proportion of women who smoked throughout pregnancy/England, 1990,1995, and 2000
Percentage
Smoking prevalence 19901 19952 20022
Smoked during pregnancy 28 23 19
Base number 5,413 4,956 34,921

Notes:

1. Data for 1990 relate to Great Britain.

2. The results from the 1995 and 2000 surveys are not directly comparable, since some of the smoking questions on the questionnaire were revised in 2000 to improve the reliability of the results.

3. The base for 2000 excludes 200 mothers who did not supply sufficient information for their smoking status to be classified.

Sources:

OPCS Infant feeding survey 1990, ONS Infant feeding survey 1995, and BMRB Infant feeding survey 2000. The latter is available from the internet at http://www.doh.qov.uk/pdfs/ infantreport2000.pdf

Table 2. Proportion of women who smoked throughout pregnancy, by region, England and Wales, 2000
Region Percentage Base number
London and South East 15 1,809
South West and Wales 21 784
Midlands and East Anglia 21 984
North 23 1,625
England and Wales 19 1,25,225

Notes:

1. 216 mothers who did not supply sufficient information for their smoking status to be classified have been excluded.

2. 23 mothers who did not supply information for their region to be classified have been excluded from the regional breakdown.

Source:

(Derived from) BMRB Infant feeding survey 2000. The published report is available from the internet at "http://www.doh.qov.uk/" http://www.doh.qov.uk/ pdfs/infantreport2000.pdf