Want kids? Then quit smoking!

In general, smoking is injurious to health and it is a fact. But do you know that smoking impacts fertility? The answer is Yes!

Women, who smoke are more likely to have fertility problems and take longer to conceive than non-smokers. In fact, not just women. Smoking raises fertility issues in men as well. The chemicals in cigarettes damage eggs and sperm, and can affect a baby’s health.

Also, the babies have increased risk of low birth weight, being born prematurely and having birth defects. Not just that if women are exposed to cigarette smoke during pregnancy, including inhaling other people’s smoke (passive smoking) it can affect the development of a baby girl’s ovaries.

In case, if you are not aware, read below.

1. Smoking effects the DNA (genetic material) in eggs and sperm
2. It impacts men’s and women’s hormone production
3. Smoking effects the fertilised egg’s ability to reach the uterus
4. Also, it impacts the environment inside the uterus, where the baby grows.

Why you should quit smoking?

Women who quit smoking before conception or within the first three months of pregnancy reduce the risk of their baby being born prematurely to the same level of risk for non-smokers.

Also, women who stop smoking early in their pregnancy have babies with similar birth weights as babies born to non-smokers. Women who quit before their third trimester can avoid much of the effects smoking has on birth weight.