Smoking and Pregnancy: The politics of Fetal Protection

Studies the emergence of smoking during pregnancy as a public health concern and social problem. Looking at the emphasis public health educators place on individual responsibility, current legal assertion of fetal person-hood, changing expectations of pregnant and pre-pregnant women and the advent of antismoking campaigns. Oaks argues that statistics on the risk of smoking to the fetus must be assessed within the cultural context of the socio-economic status of pregnant smokers. Without undermining the serious health risks posed to pregnant women this book supports a re-evaluation of the moral policing of women who smoke through pregnancy. This text is from the US but the discussions found within it are highly relevant to the UK model where similar opinions are held on smoking and pregnancy.