Pregnant girls smoke to have smaller babies, says minister

By Nicole Martin
For the London Telegraph

Pregnant teenagers are deliberately smoking in the hope of giving birth to smaller babies, making labour less painful, a Government minister claimed yesterday.

Caroline Flint, the public health minister, said that official warnings about the links between smoking and underweight babies had been understood by prospective teenage mothers.


Smoking whilst pregnant does reduce a baby's weight but labour is made no less painful
But instead of perceiving smoking as a health risk, many continued to smoke because they thought a smaller baby would reduce labour pains.

Miss Flint said she had heard about the issue anecdotally from health professionals and young women she had met. She added: "It is important that we understand what stops young women making healthy choices so that we can provide the right answers to their concerns. In this case childbirth is no less painful if your baby is low weight. So smoking is not the answer; pain relief is."

Studies have shown that smoking during pregnancy accounts for between 20 and 30 per cent of low birth weight babies. Babies of smoking mothers are on average 200g (7oz) lighter than those of non-smoking mothers.

Undernourished babies are less able to control their temperature and deal with jaundice and are at a greater risk of cot death.

They are also likely to suffer ailments such as chest and ear infections and delays in physical and intellectual development.

Smoking hinders the growth of an unborn child by reducing the amount of oxygen and nutrients it receives via the placenta and umbilical cord.

Research by Action on Smoking and Health, the anti-smoking pressure group, suggests that around 17 per cent of smokers refuse to give up during pregnancy. Of those, the vast majority is young, single and poorly educated.

Although there is little evidence on the reasons why pregnant teenagers smoked, the Royal College of Midwives said their members had come across girls who believed it would make labour less painful.

"They think a smaller baby will be easier to push out," said a spokesman.

"What we try to tell them is that healthy eating during pregnancy and remaining relaxed are much more important. If they have any concerns, they should speak to a midwife rather than getting their information from magazines."

Gail Johnson, who has been a midwife for 20 years, said there was no evidence that having a smaller baby reduced pain in labour.

"A small baby is very appealing for some girls who are frightened at the prospect of giving birth," she said.

"But what they don't realise is that the stretching sensation is the same regardless of the weight of the baby.

"The best way to reduce labour pains is to remain fit and well during pregnancy. Labour is hard work and you need as much energy as possible to cope with it."

Virginia Beckett, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said that in her 14-year career she had never met a teenager who smoked in the hope of having a less painful delivery.

She said: "That's the same as saying that teenager girls become pregnant to get housing."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Our advice remains that women should not smoke during pregnancy." Belinda Phipps, the chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust, said: "These young women have obviously been made fearful of labour, probably as a result of poor education or unnecessarily frightening portrayals of childbirth."