Women’s and midwives’ perceptions of services and financial incentives for smoking cessation in the South West of England

This presentation will explore preliminary findings from a study examining the experiences of pregnant women who smoke and who have agreed to be referred to local NHS Stop Smoking Services to help them to quit smoking. The study is examining the facilitators and barriers to a successful quit attempt and the various components of service provision which help pregnant women to quit smoking. The research is being carried out in three areas in the South West of England comparing the elements of provision and the experiences of women receiving NHS Stop Smoking support in each of these areas. One of the research sites is piloting a scheme which provides vouchers for CO validated (carbon monoxide test) abstinence as an incentive to encourage quitting, and this scheme will be compared with NHS Stop Smoking support for pregnant smokers in two other research sites. Qualitative in-depth interviews are being conducted with pregnant women, midwives and specialist stop smoking advisers. It is hoped that this study will provide useful qualitative data that will enhance ongoing service monitoring and inform future service provision for pregnant women.