HUNDREDS of women in York are risking their babies' health by continuing to smoke in pregnancy.

Over 12 per cent of women in York (almost one in eight) continue to smoke throughout their pregnancies, government figures have shown, amounting to 390 women in 2015/16. The figure has risen by 1.3 per cent on the year before.

According to the NHS, the risks of smoking during pregnancy range from premature delivery and babies being underweight, to increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or sudden infant death.

The latest statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that nationally in 2015/16, 10.6 per cent of pregnant women in England were recorded as smokers at the time of giving birth.

Nationally, the annual percentage of women recorded as smokers at the time of giving birth has fallen below the national target of 11 per cent.

But, on the whole, the figures are higher in Yorkshire and the Humber, with 12.2 per cent of women in Harrogate still classed as smoking at the time of delivery, 13.4 in the East Riding of Yorkshire and 19 per cent in Scarborough and Ryedale.

Cllr Carol Runciman, executive member for health at City of York Council, said: "Smoking in pregnancy creates a lot of risk for the unborn child. I would urge all mothers to give up smoking, especially when they are pregnant. There's a lot of advice and support available to help women to stop smoking and I would urge them to see their doctors and access that help."

There are areas in England where up to a quarter of women giving birth over the last 12 months were smokers.

NHS Blackpool had the highest prevalence, with 26 per cent of women recorded as being smokers at the time of delivery.

The CCG with the lowest prevalence was Westminster at 1.5 per cent.

Francine Bates, chief executive of The Lullaby Trust and co-chair of the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group, said there was a socio economic cause and impact of smoking in pregnancy.

She said: “Higher smoking rates among poorer pregnant women is a major cause of inequality. Investment in services to support women to quit is needed by every local authority. If we do not support women to quit when they become pregnant we are locking in a lifetime of inequality.”