Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England, Quarter 1, 2024-25

In quarter 1 of 2024-2025 the number of maternities with an unknown smoking status was 3.2%. This is an increase from 2.5% in quarter 4 of 2023-2024.

The following 13 Sub-ICBs recorded 5% or more of their maternities with an unknown smoking status

• NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB - 10Q (52.0%)
• NHS Devon ICB - 15N (32.3%)
• NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly ICB - 11N (12.9%)
• NHS West Yorkshire ICB - 36J (11.4%)
• NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB - 00X (10.9%)
• NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB - 01E (9.7%)
• NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB - 01H (9.4%)
• NHS Frimley ICB - D4U1Y (8.4%)
• NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB - 03F (7.5%)
• NHS West Yorkshire ICB - 03R (5.9%)
• NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB - 27D (5.7%)
• NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB - 02Y (5.6%)
• NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB - 14Y (5.4%).

For more information: DQ Table 1, Statistics on Women’s Smoking at Time of Delivery, England - Quarter 1 2024-25

In quarter 1 of 2024-2025, the number of maternities with an unknown smoking status was 8.4% which is similar to 8.5% in quarter 4 of 2023-2024.

While guidance is in place on how to submit smoking statuses in MSDS, this has not previously focused on the need to record only one consistent smoking status within +/- 3 days of the labour onset date. Some SATOD v2 maternities are recorded as having an unknown smoking status due to conflicting smoking status information being recorded within the +/- 3 days of the labour onset date, e.g. both smoker and non-smoker recorded.

We shall be issuing specific guidance for SATOD v2 before the next quarterly publication, setting out which clinical codes to submit for smoking status (as listed in Appendix A) and which MSDS tables to record this information in. As well as reducing the number of SATOD v2 maternities with conflicting smoking status information being recorded, this enhanced guidance should support further reductions in the number of maternities with an unknown smoking status by helping reduce the number of maternities where no smoking status at all is recorded.

This diagram sets out how smoker and non-smoker codes recorded within MSDS are used to allocate a SATOD v2 smoking status:

In quarter 1 of 2024-2025, the following trusts failed data quality checks and therefore their data is not included in the months stated in the table below. Details of the data quality metrics can be found in the Maternity Services Monthly Publication metadata, in the 'CQIMDQ Measures Construction' tab. These are the same data quality metrics used for the CQIMSmokingDelivery measure. The relevant data quality metrics are CQIMDQ02, CQIMDQ06 and CQIMDQ07.

For more information: SATOD v2 DQ Table (Sub-ICB), Statistics on Women’s Smoking at Time of Delivery, England - Quarter 1 2024-25