November 15, 2012 is the date of the37th annual Great American Smokeout.
It's a great time to quit smoking, especially if you're a woman who
wants to get pregnant. The effects of smoking aren't only bad for
babies in utero – it's bad for your fertility.
The ASRM Patient's Fact Sheet on Smoking and Infertility gives you some of the details on how smoking can get in the way of
your getting pregnant. And now, there's a study that highlights
another angle of why moms-to-be should kick the habit: Women who
smoke lose a decade of life.
Many of my patients arrive at Houston
Fertility Center having struggled for years to get pregnant before
finally deciding to use assisted reproductive techniques. So, as with
many fertility practices, I counsel a lot of older moms-to-be, who
have a few things to worry about that women in their 20's don't when
it comes to infertility. Women in their 30's and 40's often express
different concerns about how their bodies will fare through
pregnancy, labor and delivery, and they often have more questions
about higher risks for their babies. I doubt if a single one of my
older patients hasn't done some quick math – with a little
trepidation – to figure out how old she'll be when her child is a
teenager or heads to college. Longevity is a natural, normal concern.
In this UK study published recently in the medical journal The Lancet, more than 1
million women were surveyed and followed for up to 15 years and asked
about their cigarette smoking habits. The impact on their mortality
was significant. From the study:
“... smokers lose at least 10 years of lifespan. Although the hazards of smoking until age 40 years and then stopping are substantial, the hazards of continuing are ten times greater. Stopping before age 40 years (and preferably well before age 40 years) avoids more than 90% of the excess mortality caused by continuing smoking; stopping before age 30 years avoids more than 97% of it.”
So, older moms, you have even more
reason to stop smoking now – you might want to enjoy being a
grandmother longer.
~ Dr. Sonja Kristiansen M.D.
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
