ONE in seven women smoked while they were pregnant in Southampton.

New figures have revealed that hundreds of expecting mums in the city were smoking at the time they gave birth.

The Health and Social Care Information centre has released statistics which show that Southampton mums are among the worst for smoking while pregnant.

The figures show that in the last year 499 out of 3,403 pregnant women living in the city were smoking when their baby was born.

Now a major organisation helping people in Southampton quit smoking has urged mothers who are struggling to give up the habit and do something to help their unborn babies.

Sian Howells, clinical manager of Southampton Quitters said that, although still high, the figures are down on last year when one in six Southampton mums smoked whilst pregnant.

She said: “I’m not really surprised. When women who smoke become pregnant they are so stressed about this massive change in their life that they give themselves permission to continue smoking.

“They think they’ve got so much going on and are already doing so much to keep the baby healthy that this one thing can’t hurt – we see this a lot with younger mums who could have an unexpected pregnancy and smoking is their way of relaxing.

Sian added: “It’s actually probably one of the worst things a mum could carry on doing. Smoking has such an awful impact on a child when they are developing and we feel so strongly about reaching out and encouraging mums to quit for the sake of their baby.”

The Southampton figures are similar for expecting mums living on the Isle of Wight and in Portsmouth with 15 per cent of mums in each area smoking while they were pregnant.

Other figures show 12 per cent of pregnant mums in Fareham and Gosport smoked last year and almost 10 per cent of expecting mums in Test Valley and Winchester smoked.

A study in 2005 proved that Carbon Monoxide, a gas produced by cigarettes, can increase the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth, low birth weight, premature delivery, sudden infant death, cause a faster heart beat and potentially cause learning and behavioural difficulties like ADHD.

Sian said: “We get so many women who already have children saying their other kids don’t have any problems but they can’t know how that child would have been different if they hadn’t smoked, they would probably be much healthier.

“Smoking causes so many problems which could be prevented and the sooner a mum can give it up the better – even if they are months along those few months they spend not smoking will still have a huge impact on the baby but lots of mums are scared of failing when they try to quit so they just won’t come to us, any mums out there who are in this position - please call us.”