WEDNESDAY, 11 DECEMBER, 2024

Photographs attached:

Photo 1: Midwives from Perth Maternity Unit

Photo 2: Buttons and Bows Baby Bank staff with Quit Your Way health promotion officer Tracey Kerrigan

Photo 3: GIUFB information stand at Boots, Overgate in Dundee

NHS Tayside helps families Give It Up For Baby

Are you pregnant? Do you smoke? Protecting your baby from tobacco smoke is one of the best things you can do to give your child a healthy start in life and NHS Tayside’s Give It Up For Baby scheme can support you to quit smoking for good.

Give It Up For Baby (GIUFB) is a project to support pregnant women and people to quit smoking through their local community pharmacy.

People taking part in the GIUFB incentive scheme are offered free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and support from pharmacy staff and, if they remain smoke-free, can receive up to £50 per month in supermarket vouchers for food and groceries until their baby is 12-weeks-old.

Members of NHS Tayside’s Quit Your Way team are hosting information sessions in Angus, Dundee and Perth in December to give advice about the GUIFB programme.

Director of Public Health Emma Fletcher said, “Stopping smoking is the single most important change a woman can make to reduce the risk of complications during pregnancy. This means the baby will be much more likely to be born full-term and healthy. Through our smoking cessation service, we can offer encouragement and help to quit smoking for the good of the mother’s health and that of her child.

“You can access free medication and support that’s right for you at your local community pharmacy. In addition, pregnant women and people who stop smoking with GIUFB can receive up to £50 per month in supermarket vouchers throughout their pregnancy and up to three months after the birth. Figures show that you are much more likely to succeed in stopping smoking by joining GIUFB so we would encourage people who want to quit to sign up and get support.”

As part of the GIUFB programme, the mum-to-be can also nominate their partner or someone close to them who smokes to support them through their quit journey. The nominated person then also gets the chance to access free NRT and support through their chosen community pharmacy and take part in the incentive scheme for 12 weeks.

Lead midwife Donna Brough encouraged people to sign up to GIUFB for support to quit smoking while pregnant.

Donna added, “NHS Tayside maternity services are delighted to support GIUFB. Protecting your baby from smoke is one of the best things you can do for your baby as it will reduce the risk of complications in pregnancy and birth and increase the chance of you having a healthy pregnancy and baby. Midwives can also provide support, advice and signposting if you wish to stop smoking in pregnancy.”

The Quit Your Way team have already visited the Button and Bows Baby Bank charity, which supports families with essential baby items, to promote GIUFB.

Caroline Moore, founder of the Buttons and Bows Baby Bank, said, “Assisting NHS Tayside in promoting the GIUFB scheme will enable our families and mums-to-be to improve not only their own health and their immediate family’s health but also the health of their unborn child. Families will hopefully have spare money to then spend on essential items for the whole house and we are delighted to be a part of this.”

The Quit Your Way team, who have also visited ASDA in Perth and Boots in Reform Street, in Dundee, will be visiting the following locations in the coming weeks:

Dundee:

• One Parent Families, 20 Grampian Gardens, Dundee – Thursday, 19 December from 10am-noon

Angus:

• Well Pharmacy, Fisheracre, Arbroath – Thursday, 12 December from 10am-noon

• Bairds Pharmacy, Abbeygate, Arbroath – Thursday, 12 December from 2-4pm

You can access the GIUFB scheme by talking to your midwife, through your local community pharmacy or by contacting Quit Your Way Tayside on 01382 424127 or emailing tay.smokingcessationservice@nhs.scot

Information about the GIUFB project is also available on BadgerNet, the electronic maternity healthcare record system which can be accessed during maternity care.

Anyone who wants to stop smoking can call NHS Tayside Quit Your Way on 01382 424127 or email tay.smokingcessationservice@nhs.scot to find out about the ways in which NHS Tayside can help support people to become smoke free.

You can also follow the Quit Your Way Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nhstaysidequityourway

Contact:

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 424138