Smoking rewards

If I said I would give you £400 to quit smoking when pegnant, would you think that was a bribe or would you willingly latch onto my offer? 

A pilot study has found that pregnant women were more likely to quit smoking if a financial reward was offered. 

Well obviously, who doesn't like free money?! 

In The Sun it states 'over 600 took part in the trial - mostly funded by taxpayers. Researches said 23 per cent stopped when offered vouchers, with 15 per cent still not smoking a year on. But just 9 per cent who were not offered the reward managed to quit, falling to 4 per cent after the birth.' 

I will admit that I did smoke during some of my pregnancy, I stopped when I was 6 months pregnant on my own with no help, or vouchers. 

However, if a reward was offered to quit smoking when I found out I was pregnant, would I have taken them up on it? 

Yes I would have but I'm sure I would have failed miserably as when you are a smoker you can't quit until you are ready to quit, regardless of if you are pregnant or not.  

Yes that sounds incredibly selfish and I thank God everyday that I have a healthy child with no problems due to my selfishness. I didn't smoke 20 a day while pregnant and I usually only had 1 or 2 cigarettes a day but I know that was wrong of me and I admit that. 

I have walked down the street and seen pregnant women smoking and looked at them in horror and then sympathy as I know how hard it is to quit. 

I did take up smoking again gradually, I smoke a few cigarettes a day and can go for days at a time without touching one but I am not going to lie, I enjoy smoking and I don't want to quit, don't all gasp at once. (I struggle gasping as I need all the oxygen I can get in my lungs.) 

This new incentive, bribe, bit of blackmail or whatever they are calling it, is due to be rolled out to pregnant women in London, Nottingham, Belfast and Lanarkshire. 

They will get a £50 voucher after setting up a meeting with an NHS advisor and setting a quit date, which seems like an incredibly easy way to get £50 without doing anything apart from (probably) half heartedly saying 'I promise I will quit' then running off to Argos to buy a hideous bit of cheap jewellery. (Wouldn't vouchers for Mothercare be more appropriate? - I will email them to see if they are.) 

Another £50 will be given to them if they are smoke free for 4 weeks. Again, this seems pretty easy. I may even think about becoming pregnant again as this free money sounds appealing. 

Then £100 will be given if they get to 3 months without smoking. Where is my nearest sperm bank?! 

The final £200 will be given if they make it to 9 months without smoking. I feel a bit sick (maybe I AM pregnant?!) 

The 'experts' think this will save money and reduce miscarriages and stillbirths, the last 2 are valid points but the first?! 

We are too softly, softly in this country and the government and 'experts' think they need to toddler us to get us to behave and do what they want but why don't they try to go the other way and fine pregnant women who smoke? 

If I was told I would be fined if I didn't quit smoking while pregnant, I would have stopped there and then. Thinking about money being taken off me would be more of an incentive than if I could just get given something for free. 

Besides, if you really wanted to quit when you were pregnant then surely you wouldn't need an incentive to quit other than the fact that you were pregnant? 

It's time this country stopped fluffing everything up and throwing money at a problem. Just deal with it, get tough and move onto the next problem as this country is full of them.