ONE in ten babies across west Kent are born to mums who smoke, new figures reveal. Across west Kent, 10.1 per cent of mothers were smoking at the time of giving birth – 519 mums out of a total of 5,164. That figure was up on the previous year, when it was 9.4 per cent, although there were 44 fewer babies born. The eye-opening figures were published this week by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). Kent County Council director of public health Andrew Scott-Clark told the Courier: "We are committed to reducing the prevalence of smoking in the county, including among pregnant women, as it is the single greatest cause of premature death and ill health in our community." Mr... [Read more]