The unchecked rise of shisha tobacco cafes, and making breastfeeding stick

The BMJ published a negative result this week. A new trial focuses on a peer support intervention for improving breastfeeding rates in the UK, but finds no major improvement. We hear from the lead author who tells us what went wrong, and the insights that can still be drawn from apparent ‘failures’. Next we turn our eyes to shisha smoking in the UK. With shisha or “hookah” cafes on the rise, we explore the smoking habit in more detail. What are the effects on health? And why are UK laws poor at regulating the practice? Kate Jolly is professor of public health and primary care at the University of Birmingham. Zainab Hussain is a UK-based freelance journalist writing on behalf of The BMJ. Links: Peer support intervention (ABA-feed) to improve breastfeeding: UK based, multicentre, parallel group, randomised controlled trial Shisha tobacco’s availability is rising. Why does UK smoking policy fail to tackle it?

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The unchecked rise of shisha tobacco cafes, and making breastfeeding stick is an episode from The BMJ Podcast by The BMJ.

This episode is 34:00 long.

This episode was published on Apr 3, 2026.

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