Paying pregnant mums to stop smoking

[mumnosbest]

I'll keep this brief as I don't want to start ranting but... are we really going to use tax-payers money to bribe women to stop smoking. Isn't the health of a child enough of an incentive? If a test case showed 20% gave up smoking for money then it wasn't exactly a success anyway and how would you prove that you had given up?

I would imagine the same way as you have to prove you've stopped in any smoking cessation clinic.

I sort of don't have a problem with this - it will potential save a lot more than it spends (long term health cost) and if a little bit of money helps to relieve some of the feelings of stress and unhappiness that is causing people to need to smoke then so be it. Life is more complicated thn just saying the health of the baby should be enough. I used to think like this when I was a young health care professional but now I'm not so naive.

If you have a problem with this you might as well stop all treatment for any self-inflicted conditions with the NHS. DP is an Occupational Therapist & 80% of the people she sees are in hospital having suffered diseases and accidents as they are fat, drink too much, smoke etc

Its 20% MORE than would have quit otherwise. Those who don't quit don't cost any money because they don't get the payments.

Would you rather use taxpayers money to keep their premature babies alive?

I don't think it's a good idea actually. How long before women who are thinking of getting pregnant take up smoking for a while first so they can get paid for 'stopping'?

Pixel - I don't think so. The cost of starting smoking would hardly be covered by shopping vouchers. Quite a daily-mail ish view of the women targeted by this initiative.

Well who are the women targeted then?

The OP doesn't say, and also doesn't specify shopping vouchers are to be used. Has anyone got a link to any more information please?

God help us, not another one.

BBC link to smoking voucher story

AIBU thread about paying pregnant mum's to stop smoking

Plenty of ranting going on in the AIBU thread. FWIW, I think it's a good idea and one that will save the NHS money if it gets more pregnant smokers to quit.

Shadow

Thanks, I hadn't seen the other thread, sorry. Looks as though it will take me a while to read!

Why not let the child sue the mother if it has any birth defect/health problems?