(PRWEB) June 23, 2004 -- A social argument that can ethically
split the nation in households up and down the country (UK)
is – should women continue to smoke during pregnancy?
The impact of smoking in pregnancy is well documented and
includes miscarriage, perinatal mortality, low birth weight
and sudden infant death syndrome. A figure shows that 30%
of women in the UK continue to smoke during pregnancy. But
a recently published study shows that an increased number
of women, who are exposed to powerful social marketing techniques
through ‘smoking cessation programmes’, are
quitting smoking as a direct result, meaning healthier mothers
and healthier children. (A copy of the report has been attached
to this press release).
Over a decade ago while working for the regional health
authority in the North East of England, Ray Lowry, a consultant
in public health medicine, first investigated the values
and techniques of social marketing in the healthcare sector.
After the initial research and development into social marketing,
with guidance from Ray Lowry - Sunderland Primary Care Trust
took on the mantle of the research. Social marketing is
the art and science of promoting planned, targeted social
change. The published study explores what it’s like
to be a pregnant smoker in Sunderland, and looks at the
development of a ‘model’ smoking cessation programme
in the same area of the country. The paper identifies how
techniques were developed and tailored to the needs of a
pregnant smoker. This particular research programme technique
was exclusively pioneered in the North East of England.
The concerning high rates of smoking in pregnancy in the
North East of England have troubled the NHS for years, and
many attempts of reducing the rates have failed. The study
published this month in ‘Public Health – The
Journal of the Royal Institute of Public Health’,
tells of how focus groups were used to provide a valuable
insight into the issues facing smoking pregnant women. By
studying the transcripts of the focus groups, role-play
exercises with actors were introduced to help the NHS staff
to understand the intricacies of the subject matter. Recruitment
of pregnant (and non-pregnant) smokers to the new smoking
cessation programme in Sunderland increased 10-fold during
the intervention phase, compared with neighbouring Primary
Care Trust areas, who were running similar programmes. This
is conclusive evidence that by using the social marketing
research, it produces impressive results. Quit rates were
significantly increased after the introduction and development
of locally dedicated services for pregnant women. For the
best health results for mother and child, women should consider
giving up smoking before the conception of the child.
The priceless research findings were used to enforce an
informative programme using social marketing techniques,
these included poster and redesigned leaflet campaigns.
The market research identified a number of barriers women
face in relation to smoking cessation during pregnancy:
unsatisfactory information and lack of enthusiasm or empathy
from healthcare professionals figured highly in the results.
This in mind, future information material needs to focus
on solutions for women to give up smoking rather than just
underlining the risks to their unborn child. Such solutions
might include how to deal with cravings after giving up
smoking, how to cope with anxieties about weight gain or
how to cope with mood swings. Some women felt they were
picking up ‘mixed messages’, saying they felt
health professionals were trying to ‘nag them to quit’,
but didn’t follow through with enthusiasm or empathy.
The research showed that in addition to the differences
of the women’s lifestyles, there were also differences
in motives for giving up smoking. For example, some women
were motivated to give up for themselves and their baby,
and so were more likely to stay off cigarettes after the
birth. But some were motivated purely for the health of
the baby and were more likely to return to smoking soon
after the birth. This released the social pressure they
had felt to give up during their pregnancy.
Ray Lowry, a consultant in public health medicine and
a senior lecturer at Newcastle University – developed
the concept and implementation of social marketing in the
NHS and inspired Sunderland to undertake the intervention.
Lowry said: “The research focussed on the women and
their struggles. It gave us an important insight into the
specific barriers in the way of women trying to give up
smoking, and our aim was to find out what would encourage
them to do so. We were able to motivate frontline NHS staff
using role-players, redesigned leaflets and set up a user-friendly
service to support the women effectively.
"The modest success of the intervention shows how social
marketing can bring about behaviour change in a hard-to-change
population. These techniques are not fool-proof: it is only
the diligent application and hard work by the participants
that the success has been achieved.”
The intention of the public health research team is to
implement the findings in other areas of the North East
and then spread the successful intervention on a national
scale. The study was entitled “Using social marketing
to increase recruitment of pregnant smokers to smoking cessation
service: the success story”.
Media contacts:
Garry Smith
Press Officer (Strictly Press)
+44(191) 2461614.
e-mail: e-mail protected from spam bots
Ray Lowry Consultant in Public Health Medicine & Author
of the study +44(191) 222 8393
Bleeper: +44 7626 610 895.
Interviews: Ray Lowry is available for interview please
contact Garry Smith of Strictly Press to arrange any dates
or times.
1).A Government White-paper ‘Smoking Kills’
set a target to reduce the percentage of women who smoke
during pregnancy from 23 to 15% by the year 2010, with a
fall to 18% by 2005. In order to achieve this target, the
Department of Health allocated £3 million to develop smoking
in pregnancy services in 2001/02. A further £3 million was
allocated in 2002/03 for the continuation of the smoking
in pregnancy initiative.
2).Ray Lowry, has been a qualified doctor for over twenty
years and currently works as a senior lecturer at Newcastle
University and as a public health medicine consultant for
the Gateshead Primary Care Trust.
3).The study “Using social marketing to increase
recruitment of pregnant smokers to smoking cessation service:
the success story” was written by: R.J Lowry of the
Dental School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne; S.Hardy
of the Maternity Services, City Hospital Trust in Sunderland;
C.Jordan of the Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust,
Sunderland Smoking Cessation Service; and G.Wayman of the
Sunderland Smoking Cessation Service and Sunderland Teaching
Primary Care Trust in Sunderland.
