Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to better promote awareness and understanding of healthy behaviour including (a) reducing smoking during pregnancy and (b) promoting breastfeeding beyond the first weeks after birth which are integral to improving the health of children in early years.

Public Health England, Health Education England and the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training published a range of online resources to support midwifery teams to have meaningful conversations with pregnant women about quitting smoking. These can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/smoking-in-pregnancy/

The Start4Life marketing programme helps parents-to-be and families with babies and children under five to adopt healthy behaviours and with the aim of ensuring that children are given the best start in life. This includes information on quitting smoking and support during breastfeeding. The Start4Life website can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/signups/new