Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:30 pm on 28 January 2020.
Thank you for that answer, First Minister. And, undoubtedly, Wales has led the UK in banning smoking in public places, which is very welcome. However, 13 years on, latest figures still show that we're failing to address smoking in young people and expectant mothers. Across Wales, 9 per cent of 15 to 16-year-olds smoke, and 30 per cent of teenage mums smoke. Thirty per cent of mums aged between 16 and 19 are smokers at their baby's birth. Now, this obviously has a long-term impact on them, and, of course, their child. And one of the things I've discovered is that not all maternity services have dedicated stop smoking services. Those that do have them have shown a very high success rate. And we have to recognise that teenage mums in particular are very vulnerable to pressures such as body image, they want a tiny baby, there are a lack of role models, and, of course, the demographics sometimes fight against them. And we also know that if children see people smoking around them, they're much more likely to take up smoking.
So, I wondered if you could just outline for me what the Welsh Government could do to ensure that the best practice that does exist where there's a midwife-led stop smoking cessation service in a midwifery unit is spread across Wales, and we can have more midwives that can lead this kind of practice in order to try to cut down on the rates of teenage smoking.