Women smoking and health problems

  Women who smoke have an increased risk for delayed conception and fertility problems

Your Reproductive Health

Tobacco use can damage a woman’s reproductive health. Women who smoke have an increased risk for delayed conception and fertility problems. Smokers are younger at menopause than nonsmokers and may have more unpleasant symptoms while going through menopause.

Smoking can also cause complications during pregnancy that can hurt both mother and baby. Smokers have a higher risk of the placenta growing too close to the opening of the uterus. Smokers are also more likely to have premature membrane ruptures and placentas that separate from the uterus too early. Bleeding, premature delivery, and emergency Caesarean section (C-section) may result from these problems. Smokers are also more likely to have miscarriages and stillbirths.

Your Baby’s Health

More than 10% of pregnant women smoke throughout their pregnancies. Smoking is linked to an increased risk of preterm delivery and infant death. Research also suggests that infants of mothers who smoke during and after pregnancy are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies born to nonsmoking mothers. Even of the women who are able to stop smoking during pregnancy, only one third of those remain quit one year after the delivery. The risk is somewhat less for infants whose mothers stop smoking during pregnancy and resume smoking after delivery. But infants of nonsmoking mothers have the lowest risk of SIDS. As many as 10% of all infant deaths could be prevented if pregnant women did not smoke.

Smoking during pregnancy is responsible for 20% or more of cases of low birth weight infants. Smoking during pregnancy slows fetal growth, often causing babies to have health problems as a result of being born underweight. Quitting smoking during pregnancy reduces this risk.

Some harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke can also be passed on to a baby through breast milk.

Your Children’s Health

Almost 3 million children in the United States under the age of 6 breathe secondhand smoke at home at least 4 days per week. Studies show that older children whose parents smoke get sick more often. Their lungs grow less then children who do not live around smokers. They get more bronchitis and pneumonia. They cough and wheeze more. Smoking can also trigger a child’s asthma attack. More than 40% of children who go to emergency room for their asthma live with smokers. A severe asthma attack can be life threatening.

Children who live with parents who smoke also get more ear infections. They have fluid in their ears as a result and may have to undergo surgery to have ear tubes placed for drainage.

Parents who smoke are also more likely to have children who smoke.

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