UK - Support for mothers-to-be smokers

[Junkhead23]

Expectant mothers who smoke are being encouraged to kick the habit with the offer of £100 worth of Co-op food vouchers if they are successful.

Women will receive £20 of food vouchers if they stop smoking for a week, a further £40 after four weeks and another £40 if they stop for a year.
The scheme is being piloted in Greenstead, Colchester and in Harwich, by North East Essex NHS.
Participants' carbon monoxide levels will be checked regularly.

Sue White, co-ordinator of the Colchester and Tendring NHS Stop Smoking Service, said: "Women who smoke during pregnancy are a key target group for our service. "We hope by offering this added incentive of shopping vouchers, it could make the difference with some women between kicking the habit or carrying on smoking."
Women can sign up to the pilot until 7 March.
Last year the Colchester and Tendring NHS Stop Smoking Service offered companies the opportunity to set up their own stop-smoking clinics for their employees.



Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7844473.stm

[robin_himself]

It think this is ridiculous and staggering at this point in time. It should be a criminal offence for a pregnant woman to smoke or drink. Also what kind of value and example is this for the whole society when we try to buy young mothers with money.

[Sven99]

A criminal offence? Thats ridiculous.

In the eyes of the law, an unborn child is not a person. You couldn't prosecute a mother for harmful behaviour to an unborn child without changing this, and you couldn't change it without legislating against abortion also (which as a topic of discussion is probably beyond the scope of this forum).

Secondly - you would then have to prohibit anything else that might be harmful to the baby. Eating badly, too much excercise, skydiving... its a very long list.

And possibly more importantly - the advice from the NHS on alcohol during pregnancy does NOT say to cut it out entirely anyway.


For the record, I don't condone mothers harming their baby through recreational drug use, or by any other action. I just oppose reactionary unenforceable legislation.