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It began with spiritual rituals and by the mid 17th century smoking became a social habit. It became referred to as “brown gold” as settlers began using it for trade. Tobacco, oddly enough was used for medical purposes as well. It was used for painkillers and thought to be a cure for colds.
Over the course of time there have been several anti-smoking movements, it was discovered a long time ago just how bad smoking is, but how bad is it when you’re trying to conceive or have conceived a baby?
The preconception period is a great opportunity to assess your lifestyle, and tweak the fractures in it. If your a smoker and want to conceive, now it the time to quit. It’s a well-known fact that smoking and infertility go hand in hand. In order for preconception, your hormones must work properly together. Smoking upsets the balance of hormones. The chemicals can cause issues such as ovulation, tubal problems and possibly genetic abnormalities in your embryos. Smoking also reduces the number of healthy eggs and may lead to infertility.
For men smoking could create just as many complications. Lower sperm counts, hormonal problems and those disturbing pictures on cigarette packages weren’t lying, erectile dysfunction. Smoking for men could even lead to chromosome damage leading to abnormality of the offspring.
Even if you quit and your partner didn’t, secondhand smoke still causes the same amount of damage. Being exposed to smoke, even just for a few days changes the health of your eggs and embryos.
Smoking is linked to menstrual dysfunction, cervical and tubal infertility, implantation failure and tubal pregnancies.
There are many programs place to aid in quitting smoking.
There are many hotlines; you should speak to your family doctor to find out the best route for you. Remember being a parent is a selfless decision. The baby doesn’t decide what to breath.
