Pregnant smokers to get FREE vapes under council-backed scheme

Pregnant women are to be given free vapes by a London council to stop them from smoking.

Lambeth Council will offer e-cigarettes as part of its ‘stop smoking’ service in a bid to help parents save £2,000 a year that would usually be spent on smoking.

Little research has been conducted into the safety of e-cigarettes and e-liquids in pregnancy and it is not known whether the vapour is harmful to a baby, the NHS website says.

Lambeth councillor Ben Kind revealed details of the scheme in response to a question about what the authority was doing to tackle child and family poverty in the borough.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Kind, cabinet member for children and young people, wrote: ‘The council is soon to start providing free vape products, as part of the stop smoking service, to smokers who are pregnant and/or are carers of young children.

‘This is aimed at improving the health of the family and saving money in the process of approximately £2,000 per year per family. 

‘It is estimated over 3,000 households in Lambeth fall under the poverty line due to smoking and many of these households include children.’

Last month a landmark government-commissioned review, researched by King’s College London, confirmed that vapes are not risk-free.

However it emphasised that the report was ‘good news’ for people who smoke, with vaping found to be ‘substantially less harmful’ than smoking.

On vaping outcomes in pregnancy, it said the evidence ‘remains insufficient’.

‘Effects of vaping on foetal development and pregnancy outcomes remain in particular need of research, including the effects of switching from smoking to vaping in the perinatal phase,’ it added.

The NHS website recommends pregnant women use licensed NRT products such as patches and gum to help you stop smoking.

However, it adds: ‘But if you find using an e-cigarette helpful for quitting and staying smoke-free, it’s much safer for you and your baby than continuing to smoke.’

Research from Queen Mary University of London suggested earlier this year that e-cigarettes are just as safe as nicotine patches for pregnant women and may help more women stop smoking.

A Lambeth Council spokesman, who highlighted such research, said: ‘Smoking during pregnancy is the leading risk factor for poor birth outcomes, including stillbirth, miscarriage and pre-term birth.

‘We recognise that while it is best for pregnant smokers to stop smoking without continuing to use nicotine, if this is difficult, and if they choose to use e-cigarettes it can help them become smoke-free.’

But Professor Andrew Bush, from Imperial College London’s National Heart & Lung Institute, said the council was ‘playing with fire’.

‘E-cigarettes have not been around for a long time,’ he said. 

‘We’re still learning about these things. I would be really, really worried about this as being yet one more step saying: ‘Okay, e-cigarettes are okay.’

‘I’m sure the council is doing it with the best of motives — they’re not in the pockets of the e-cigarette manufacturers. 

‘But, what are you encouraging women to inhale? What’s the safety of these things?’