Effects of smoking on Fertility and Pregnancy

Posted by Pooja on April 1st, 2018

One of the most important steps you will have to take when you are planning to start a family and when you are pregnant, is to give up on smoking. If it is a lifelong habit, it can prove to be an extremely difficult task.

Smoking is not only a health hazard during pregnancy but can have severe health consequences for yourself and the people around you. Cigarettes are full of toxic chemicals that cause irreversible damage to the lungs, throat and blood vessels. It contains tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide which can be responsible for the spread of cancer throughout the body.

Impact of smoking on fertility

Smoking can release a host of toxic chemicals into your body which can affect your reproductive organs and limit your capacity to conceive. Every top Fertility centre in Chennai will advise you to stay away from smoking before you plan to get pregnant. In females, smoking reduces your chances of conceiving and pregnancy by nearly 40% since it damages the woman’s ovaries. For males, smoking is responsible for causing damage to blood vessels in the body and thus the blood flow which affects the erection. This renders men impotent as sexual intercourse becomes impossible.

The risk of cervical cancer in women is enhanced by smoking while its detection is quite difficult too. In such cases, the surgical removal of the uterus and the ovaries are the only course of action that can be taken. Both these organs are vital for fertility and reproduction and need to be in good condition for a pregnancy to happen.

Impact of smoking on pregnancy and babies

If you are wondering how smoking will affect the baby and the pregnancy, it is because of the placenta. When you are pregnant, it is the placenta that supports, nurtures and feeds the baby with all the vital nutrients necessary for its growth. Life-giving oxygen is supplied through the placenta, and it is via this organ that the toxic compounds contained in cigarette smoke are passed on to the baby. This smoke can have dire consequences on the baby’s health and its growth. Due to carbon monoxide, the amount of oxygen reaching the baby is severely limited, causing damage and impairing the baby’s growth. As a mother, it is necessary to understand the far-reaching consequences of smoking on your fertility and your baby.

However, it is not only the mother but the father too who has to behave responsibly with the baby on its way. Remember, cigarette smoke affects you and your body but impacts those around you too. The mother-to-be inhales second-hand smoke which passes on to the child and leads to several life-threatening diseases. Unless you stop smoking, you may have to undergo ICSI in Chennai at a leading hospital as it can lead to infertility.

If you are keen to bring a healthy new life into the world, quitting smoking is a mandatory step to be taken at the earliest. If you have been wanting to stop this habit, then there is no better time to do so with such a cute incentive to push you towards your goal.