WOMEN AND SMOKING-3

INFERTILITY and SMOKING      

Is a baby part of your future plans? Many women today delay childbirth until they are in their thirties or even forties, which can cause fertility problems even for nonsmoking women. But women who smoke and delay childbirth are putting themselves at a substantially greater risk of future infertility than nonsmokers.

The fact is women smokers have around 72 percent of the fertility of nonsmokers. When all other factors are equal, it is 3.4 times more likely that smokers will require over one year to conceive.

Increasingly, studies are showing that decreased ovulatory response, as well as the fertilization and implantation of the zygote may be impaired in women who smoke. Thought is also given that chemicals in tobacco may alter the cervical fluid, making it toxic to sperm causing pregnancy to be difficult to achieve.

We can't leave the men out on this one, though. Men smokers are 50 percent more likely to become impotent. Some of the toxic chemicals found in cigarettes may result in gene mutations that can cause miscarriage, birth defects, cancer, and other health problems in their children.