THE vast majority of women smokers fail to quit within the first weeks of pregnancy, new figures showed yesterday.

About 35% of Scottish women of child-bearing age are smokers. NHS statistics published yesterday reveal 27.4% of expectant mothers still describe themselves as smokers when they book their first ante-natal appointment, usually within three months of conception. The habit is most common among those from socially deprived backgrounds, according to key indicators on the country's health. Lord Naren Patel, chairman of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, said smoking rates among Scottish women during pregnancy were high compared with most other Western nations. They were associated with higher rates of premature birth and smaller babies, as well as having a possible link to complications during pregnancy. However, the figures measured smoking rates only in the first trimester of pregnancy. Scientific tests show most smokers who quit by this point will have done only a negligible amount of damage to their babies. The national target set by health professionals is for the proportion of women smoking during pregnancy in Scotland to be reduced from 29% in 1995 to 23% by 2005, and to 20% by 2010. The new report shows Grampian is the only region in which the 2005 target has already been reached. Smoking rates, which take into account age and deprivation in each region, show that in Lanarkshire significantly fewer mothers than expected used cigarettes during pregnancy, while in Forth Valley and Tayside a good deal more smoked than was anticipated. The rate of smoking for the least disadvantaged mothers was 14.8%, rising to 37.8% for the most deprived. Maureen Moore, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said health professionals had to be more innovative in their efforts to combat Scotland's smoking rates. Young women going to the NHS for services like contraception advice, she said, should at the same time be educated about the dangers of smoking. Lord Patel said the report's statistics contained "seriously thought-provoking" indicators for children's health in Scotland. Asked if people were being irresponsible, Lord Patel said: "There are lifestyle issues. We have a duty to use the indicators to highlight choices that would adversely affect the health of children in the short and long-term. "We all have a responsibility, including those who make these lifestyle choices." Mac Armstrong, chief medical officer of Scotland, said: "It's not so much a wake-up call more of an alarm bell which every single one of us should heed. A number of issues raised like obesity and smoking during pregnancy are fundamentally about people and the choices they make as individuals and as parents." He warned Scots to start taking their health seriously. The dosage of the morning-after pill is to be changed to one double dose, instead of waiting 12 hours to take the second pill, in a bid to further reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, the Department of Health said.

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