Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery, England - Quarter 4, 2015-16

In England, 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016:

• In 2015/16, 10.6 per cent of mothers were recorded as smokers at the time of delivery which is lower than 2014/15 (11.4%). This continues the steady year-on-year decline in the percentage of women smoking at the time of delivery from 15.1 per cent in 2006/07.
• This is the first time national annual figures have been below the 11 per cent target.
• However, there are some geographical differences amongst all NHS England Regions^a smoking prevalence at delivery varied from 16.0 per cent in Cumbria and North East to 4.9 per cent in London.
• Of the four Commissioning Regions, London had all 32 of its CCGs meeting the national ambition by the end of March 2016; South of England had 30 of its 50 CCGs doing so; Midlands and East of England had 26 of its 61 CCGs and the North of England 15 of its 66 CCGs.
• Amongst the 209 Clinical Commissioning Groups, smoking prevalence at delivery ranged from 26.0 per cent in NHS Blackpool to 1.5 per cent in NHS Central London (Westminster).
• Smoking status is unknown for some maternities^b and therefore caution should be used when making comparisons with earlier periods and between CCGs. At a national level, 3.1 per cent of maternities had an unknown smoking status in 2015/16. This compares to 3.0 per cent for 2014/15, and 1.4 per cent in 2013/14. This should be borne in mind when interpreting the proportion of pregnant women known to be smoking at the time of delivery as the unknowns are effectively treated as non-smokers in the calculation.
• The proportion of unknowns at CCG level is more evident and exceeded 10 per cent in 15 CCGs in 2015/16. The proportion of women smoking at the time of delivery should be viewed with caution for these CCGs. 

On the 10/08/2016 the CSV file which accompanies this report was republished.  An error was discovered with the previous file where the number of women smoking and not smoking at the time of delivery for England had been swapped.  The regional and CCG level data in the CSV were unaffected as were all the excel tables and written report.  NHS Digital apologises for any inconvenience caused

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Footnotes

a From 1st April 2015 the structure of NHS England has changed and Area Teams have now been integrated into the existing regional structures to form a single regional tier. More information can be found at www.england.nhs.uk/about/regional-area-teams/

b The number of maternities is defined as the number of pregnant women who give birth to one or more live or stillborn babies of at least 24 weeks gestation, where the baby is delivered by either a midwife or doctor at home or in an NHS hospital (including GP units). This count should be the number of pregnant women, not the number of babies (deliveries). It does not include maternities that occur in psychiatric hospitals or private beds / hospitals.