Scheme that pays pregnant women £300 to quit smoking sees dramatic results

A scheme that pays pregnant women in a town in the UK to give up smoking has shown serious results.

The controversial programme offers expectant mums up to £300 to kick their habit. It has been run in South Tyneside in the north of England since March 2017. In the almost two years between and December of 2018, 249 women signed up to take part. Of these, 137 women managed to stay off cigarettes for at least four weeks. The payment is given in the form of vouchers that can be spent at store including Argos, Mothercare, Halfords and Boots. Women receive a £25 voucher for making an initial appointment and setting a quit date. They can claim further ones throughout their pregnancy depending on how long they give up for. "We've seen continued strong improvement around smoking in pregnancy," Tom Hall, South Tyneside Council's director of public health, told Chronicle Live. Before new initiatives were introduced to encourage expectant mums to curb their smoking 2014 and 2015, around 25 per cent of pregnant women in the area were smokers. "That has now dropped to around 13 per cent, which is a really positive improvement and one we hope to see continued." As well as the direct dangers smoking mothers pose to their unborn children, smoking is also linked to a number of costly, complicated deliveries at hospitals.