Smoking cessation intervention with pregnant women and new parents (part 2): A focus group study of health visitors and midwives working in the UK

A qualitative, focus group study was undertaken in the United Kingdom with NHS-employed health visitors and midwives to examine their attitudes towards smoking in pregnancy and their perception of their professional role in smoking cessation/relapse prevention work with women in their care. The health visitors and midwives felt there were several social and personal reasons why women smoke in pregnancy. Most felt a professional responsibility to intervene with smokers, even though they also felt their intervention was ineffective unless patients were ‘ready’ to quit and a multidisciplinary team was in place to support their patients according to their individual needs. Midwives and health visitors are willing to promote smoking cessation with their patients, but feel there are personal and organisational barriers to providing an effective service. Respondents held mixed views on the effectiveness of interventions for smoking cessation highlighting the need for evidence-based training.