One in nine expectant mums in Kirklees and Calderdale risked their unborn children’s health by smoking until the time of their birth.

And a shocking one in eight (12.8%) expectant mums in North Kirklees and Calderdale were smokers when their sons and daughters were born, according to official statistics.

Kirklees health chiefs said there was ‘more to do’ while Calderdale Council’s public health leaders said encouraging people to stop smoking was ‘a priority for the council’.

Huddersfield fared slightly healthier with one in 11 (9.3%) pregnant women smoking until birth, according to figures from the government Health and Social Care Information Centre for the first quarter of 2015/16.

Kirklees and Calderdale mums-to-be were healthier than those in most other parts of Yorkshire where one in seven (14.6%) smoked at the time of their child’s birth.

But despite local reductions of 1.2% in the proportion of pregnant smokers, the boroughs still performed worse than England average of 10.7%.

The least healthy area in Yorkshire was Barnsley where one in five (19.9%) mums-to-be smoked.

Some mums are choosing not to stub it out

And worst in England was South Tyneside, which covers Jarrow and South Shields, where over a quarter (25.8%) of expectant mums were smokers at the time of delivery.

Number of women who smoke while pregnant

1 in 8

North Kirklees & Calderdale

1 in 11

Huddersfield

1 in 7

Yorkshire

1 in 5

Barnsley

NHS West London, which covers the affluent boroughs of Chelsea and Kensington, was healthiest with just 1.4% of expectant mums smoking.

What do Kirklees say?

“The number of people smoking in Kirklees has been dropping over the last few years, including in women who continue to smoke when they are pregnant, but there is more to do.

“The council has commissioned a Stop Smoking service that focuses on key target groups, including pregnant women, and is working with health services for pregnant women to improve referral pathways into the service.

“Smoking in pregnancy increases the risk of having a low birth weight baby by 3.5 times. This increases the chances that your baby will experience poor health and other challenges as they grow.”

What do Calderdale say?

Calderdale Council director of public health Paul Butcher said: “Encouraging people to stop smoking is a priority for the council. We know how difficult it can be for anyone to give up smoking, but we offer a wide range of support to help anyone who wants to kick the habit.

“It’s never too late to stop smoking. The risks of smoking during pregnancy are serious, and quitting smoking is one of the best things pregnant women and their partners can do to help the healthy development of their baby during pregnancy and beyond.

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“The vast majority of pregnant women in Calderdale don’t smoke and it’s really encouraging to see that the number of those who do smoke when pregnant has been dropping in recent years.

“We’re working very closely with the Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust and our commissioned Local Stop Smoking Service to ensure that all pregnant women understand the benefits of stopping smoking in pregnancy and that second-hand or passive smoking harms their babies and that they know how they can be supported to stop smoking.”