According to The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and other British media on October 22, Lambeth council in Greater London, England, will give out free e-cigarettes to pregnant women as part of a new smoking cessation service. The council said its service would save mothers-to-be £2,000 a year on tobacco and help women quit smoking.

But some health campaigners criticised the council's decision as "baffling". They point out that, according to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), there has been little research into the safety of vaping during pregnancy and it is not known whether it is harmful to the foetus. The NHS also explicitly advises pregnant women to use patches and gum to help them quit.

In response to the plan, a Lambeth council spokesman explained that smoking during pregnancy is a major risk factor for adverse birth outcomes, including stillbirth, miscarriage and premature birth, according to the Telegraph. Smoking during pregnancy also increases the risk of respiratory problems, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders, learning disabilities, ear, nose and throat problems, obesity and diabetes. "Statistics show that women from low-income families are significantly more likely to smoke during pregnancy," the spokesperson said.

To that end, the council offers "comprehensive specialist cessation services" for pregnant women who smoke, including counselling, behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy. Now they plan to support the use of e-cigarettes by women who choose them as their first smoking cessation aid "because they are less harmful than smoking".

The spokesman added that they recognised that while it was best for pregnant women who smoked to stop smoking and not continue using nicotine, it was difficult for some to do so. In this case, if they choose to use e-cigarettes, "e-cigarettes can help them quit smoking."

It is worth mentioning that the details of the plan were first revealed by MP Ben Kind and reported by the BBC on the 22nd, according to The Independent on the 22nd. According to the BBC, Kinder was responding to a question about Lambeth's efforts to tackle child and family poverty when she made the revelation.

According to Kinder, more than 3,000 families in Lambeth, many of them with children, have been driven into poverty by their smoking habit. In this regard, "Parliament will soon begin offering free vaping products to smokers who are pregnant or caring for young children as part of the smoking cessation service." Kinder went on to allege that the aim of the scheme was to improve the health of families and save each family about £2,000 a year on tobacco.

Despite Lambeth council's claims of reducing household poverty and allowing women to quit smoking, its decision has been criticised by health campaigners as "inexplicable" and likely to harm women or their unborn children, according to the Telegraph.

They point to information on the UK's National Health Service (NHS) website that there has been little research on the safety of vaping during pregnancy and it is not clear whether it is harmful to the foetus. The NHS also makes clear that "if you are pregnant, nicotine replacement therapy products, such as patches and gum, are recommended to help you quit smoking".

Separately, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) have said that while e-cigarettes are much safer for pregnant women than continuing to smoke cigarettes, "the safest products are nicotine substitutes such as patches and gum".