BabyBreathe Trial
A new trial led by Caitlin Notley and Linda Bauld is to look at the use of electronic cigarettes to help mums remain smokefree after childbirth
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by Dave Cross
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Caitlin Notley said: “At the moment there is no routine support available to encourage new mums to stay smoke-free after childbirth. It’s a big problem as around 75pc of women who quit smoking for pregnancy relapse before their baby turns one. This can severely affect the health of the mother and baby.
“Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in adults, and babies exposed to second-hand smoke have higher risks of cot death, breathing problems and ear infections. Also, children of smokers are three times as likely to start smoking themselves later in life.”
The “BabyBreathe” trial will test various methods of support to aid women who have stopped smoking just before or during pregnancy to stay smoke free following their baby's birth.
The authors of the trial say: “Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in adults, causing 80% of deaths from lung cancer and bronchitis. It increases the risk of death from heart disease and other cancers. Babies exposed to 'secondhand smoke' have higher risks of cot death, breathing and ear problems. Also, children of smokers are twice as likely to start smoking.
The research team has already reviewed published evidence and gathered the views of women who have quit smoking whilst pregnant, their partners and NHS staff to create a package of potential support.
The package includes:
- Visits from/to a health visitor
- Tailored online, social and text message support
- Encouragement to use alternatives to smoking such as e-cigarettes as ways to avoid returning to smoking
- Vouchers (for example a coffee shop voucher)
- The creation of self-rewards to remain smoke free
The team believes the BabyBreathe support package is now ready for testing in a large study.
“Women will be identified through their routine midwife or health visitor appointments across four areas of the UK (Norfolk, London, Scotland, the North East). Women eligible and willing to take part will be contacted by the study team who will explain the study in more detail and ask if they would like to join. If they agree, they will then be put into one of two groups, BabyBreathe or usual care, with the same chance of being in either group. We will run the study for 6 months, at which point we will check we are attracting enough women to the study and that they can access the package as intended.
“If needed, we will expand recruitment to other areas. If the first 6 months go well, we will carry on to recruit 880 women over 15 months. We will collect data from women for up to 12 months after having their baby. We will measure how many women receiving the BabyBreathe support package are smoke free at 12 months following the birth of their baby compared to those not receiving support.
“We will assess the value for money of the package of support. We will look into which parts of the package are most used, 'liked' and appear most effective by detailed interviews with around 40 women and 12 health visitors. This will help us to explain the findings at the end of the trial. We plan to raise awareness of our findings with parents and health care staff by working with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and working closely with the Institute of Health Visiting.”
References:
- The BabyBreathe Trial - https://www.uea.ac.uk/groups-and-centres/addiction-research-group/babybreathe
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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