ALMOST 12 percent of mothers who gave birth in Dorset last year were smoking when the baby was born.

New figures released for the year ending March 31 show that 11.8 per cent of new mothers in Dorset last year were smoking at the time of delivery.

In the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group area 7,231 babies were born last year with 848 of them born to a mother smoking at the time of delivery.

The national percentage stands at 10.6 per cent.

The NHS’s national target is 'below 11 per cent'.

Chris Ricketts, head of tobacco control at Public Health Dorset, said: “Smoking is harmful to both mothers and babies, so having a baby is a really good reason to quit.

“In Dorset, the percentage of women smoking during pregnancy is slightly above the national average.

“We’ve been working closely with maternity services across Dorset to make sure families are given the best advice and offered support to quit smoking during the early stages of pregnancy.

"A new scheme makes it easier for midwives to identify women who smoke, by measuring carbon monoxide levels, and then provides advice and support for them to quit as part of their antenatal care.

“This is a hugely important public health issue, but we also recognise how hard it can be to stop smoking.

"That is why we want to make sure there is excellent support for families, so that children can have the best start life to life without all the health risks that come with tobacco.”

The NHS says protecting a baby from tobacco smoke is one of the best things a mother can do to give a child a healthy start in life.

Cigarettes can restrict the oxygen supply to the baby so their heart has to beat harder every time a person smokes.

Stopping smoking means a mother has less chance of complications in pregnancy.

It also reduces the risk of stillbirth and also reduces the chance of a baby being born early and facing additional breathing, feeding and health problems or being born underweight.

It is also less likely to be born underweight, with the babies of smokers on average around 200g lighter than other babies, which can cause problems during and after labour.

Not smoking during pregnancy also reduces the risk of cot death and the chance of the baby suffering from asthma in later life.