International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Under new proposals, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has said all pregnant women will have to take breath tests to prove that they are no longer smoking.

Midwives will be encouraged to tell mothers-to-be to undergo a carbon monoxide test at their first antenatal appointment.

The test will reveal if pregnant women are being honest about whether they smoke or not, and how much.

Nice said the guidelines were not intended to penalise smoking expectant mothers but instead they were designed to help women give up the habit both during and after pregnancy.

Professor Mike Kelly, the director of Nice, said: "During pregnancy, smoking puts the health of the women and her unborn baby at great risk both in the short- and long-term, and small children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to suffer from respiratory problems."

Another study recently found that smoking during pregnancy could lead to a higher risk of pelvic pain.

Women who smoked during gestation had 20 per cent more chance of having pregnancy-related pelvic pain than non-smokers, Danish researchers who published their study in the BJOG journal found.

Posted by Paul Robertson