Keep your baby smoke free during pregnancy and after birth
Scientific evidence shows that around 30% of sudden infant deaths could be avoided if mothers didn’t smoke when they were pregnant. Taken together with the risks of smoking around a baby at home, this means that smoking could be linked to 60% of sudden infant deaths.
- Both you and your partner should try not to smoke during pregnancy and after the birth
- Smoking both during pregnancy and after your baby is born greatly increases the chance of SIDS, and your baby can be affected by either you or your partner smoking
- You should also keep your baby out of smoky areas – Don’t let people smoke near your baby and keep your home, car, and other places your baby spends time, smoke free
- If you or your partner smoke, you should not share a bed with your baby as this greatly increases the chance of SIDS even if you do not smoke in the bedroom
If you smoke 1-9 cigarettes a day during pregnancy you are more than 4 times as likely to have a baby die as a sudden infant death than a woman who didn’t smoke at all during pregnancy.
Even if you did smoke when you were pregnant, you should still try not to expose your baby to smoke after birth as this can help reduce the risk of sudden infant death. Quitting smoking is not easy and will require a lot of discipline, but it is an effort worth making.
For free advice and support to quit smoking call Kent Community Heath now on 0300 123 1220, fill in their online form, text ‘quit’ to 87023 or call at Ashford’s One You shop in Park Mall www.kentcht.nhs.uk/our-services/health-improvement/stop-smoking/
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The Lullaby Trust, ‘Safer Sleep for babies: a Guide for Parents’,
www.lullabytrust.org.uk/smoking