Of course any information about the harm of tobacco has to be coupled with
support to give up.

A phrase used on the 'ani-smoking' message page in  our local
soon-to-be-published Parent Held Child Health Records is quite useful -
instead of 'why you shouldn't smoke' or ' your smoking harms your baby', it
is headlined

 '5 Reasons Why You'll be Glad you Gave Up'

Rachel's point about indulgence is a good one. Some women smoke partly
because it is the one permitted indulgence - in families where everyone
smokes, this is the very last thing a woman (or mother) will be forbidden
to do. Women in even the very poorest of families will manage to find £3
for a pack of cigarettes.  It is a tiny bit of autonomy (as well as being a
physical addiction - as I know as an ex-smoker who took several years to
become a non-smoker, and who, if they told me they had got it wrong about
the health risks, would quickly become a smoker again. I loved smoking -
really loved it. )

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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