Does smoking affect pregnancy?

Whether it is men or women, smoking is very harmful to physical health. Although cigarettes can temporarily relieve high-pressure emotions, they are addictive, and the nicotine and tar they contain are very harmful to the human body. Especially for pregnant women, they have to consider the baby in their belly in everything they do. So what impact will smoking have on the body of pregnant women?

What are the effects of women smoking on the fetus

1. Can cause infertility Smoking can reduce the fertilization ability of eggs and increase the possibility of infertility by 2.7 times. The situation is even worse if the husband is also a smoker. Because smoking can reduce sperm count and motility, statistics show that smoking couples are 5.3 times more likely to be infertile than non-smoking couples.

2. Nicotine in tobacco can reduce the secretion of female sex hormones, leading to menstrual disorders. Women who smoke reach menopause earlier and experience menopausal symptoms earlier. According to a survey of 1,367 women aged 18 to 44 in California, 25% of female smokers experienced irregular menstruation, while only 18.6% of non-smoking women did so. Women who smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day are twice as likely to experience menstrual irregularities as non-smoking women. Recent studies have also confirmed that smoking is one of the risk factors for breast cancer in women.

3. Smoking during pregnancy leads to miscarriage. Women who smoke are 10 times more likely to have miscarriage during pregnancy than non-smoking women, and the average fetal weight is reduced by 230 grams. The mortality rate of fetuses before and after birth is also higher for mothers who smoke. For mothers who smoke less than one pack a day, the mortality rate and risk of fetuses before and after birth is 20%; for mothers who smoke more than one pack a day, it is 35%. In addition, the risk of congenital heart disease in babies born to mothers who smoke is doubled.

4. Smoking affects children's intelligence and development. Smoking during pregnancy has adverse effects on the intelligence and physical development of their children. Children will have some psychological and physiological dysfunction before school age. After entering school, their reading and calculation abilities are worse than those of children of non-smoking women, and their height is also shorter than that of children of non-smoking women.

What are the harms of smoking to women?

1. Reduced immunity

Smoking reduces the body's immune function, significantly reduces activated immune cells and lymphocytes, and decreases the immunity of the reproductive tract. It can increase the risk of viral infection, gynecological inflammation and tumors. It is reported that the incidence of breast cancer, cervical cancer and ovarian cancer in smoking women is more than 20 times that of non-smoking women.

2. Early menopause

Studies have shown that certain components in smoke are toxic to follicles, causing them to disappear prematurely. Women who start smoking before the age of 17, or smoke a pack of cigarettes a day for more than 20 years, have a 2 to 3 times higher chance of experiencing menopause before the age of 40 than non-smokers of the same age. Smoking is a risk factor for ovarian failure. Nicotine inhaled into the body after burning cigarettes can affect the production of estrogen after decomposition. The secretion of estrogen in smokers' bodies is reduced. Those who smoke for a long time and smoke a lot will enter menopause early.

3. Affects appearance

Smokers' teeth are stained with smoke stains, which are difficult to fade. Nicotine affects the body's absorption of collagen. Coupled with the long-term hypoxia caused by smoking, wrinkles tend to appear on the lips and corners of the eyes prematurely, the skin becomes rough and dry, and loses its elastic and plump appearance, and some signs of aging appear prematurely. Smoking can also cause blood flow disorders and capillary atrophy, leading to dark circles and enlarged pores, making women look older.

4. Causes female infertility

From a clinical perspective, smoking can have adverse effects on women's reproductive function, sexual function, endocrine system and other aspects, increasing the risk of infertility. Clinical surveys show that smokers who smoke directly or breathe secondhand smoke are 2.7 times more likely to suffer from infertility than non-smokers. At the same time, smoking can seriously damage women's reproductive function and reduce the chances of women becoming pregnant. If both men and women smoke, the woman's pregnancy rate will be lower.

5. Dysmenorrhea and infertility

Since smoking can cause vasoconstriction, making the blood vessels narrower and slowing down blood flow, it also reduces blood flow to the endometrium, causing irregular or painful menstruation.

The fertilization rate of eggs from women who smoke is greatly reduced. Women who smoke are 2.7 times more likely to suffer from infertility than non-smoking women. US researchers have found that smokers are 72% less fertile than non-smokers. If the husband also smokes, the situation is even worse. Statistics show that smoking couples are 5.3 times more likely to be infertile than non-smoking couples.