Cigarettes, Alcohol, Fertility and Conception

"As soon as a precious little baby is growing inside my womb, I promise I will stop all my bad habits: no more alcohol, no more smoking." Many women have this talk with themselves, vowing they will stop smoking or drinking after they become pregnant, but the reality is these habits are hard to break. Why put yourself in the position where you might be tempted to harm your unborn child. Stamp out any self-destructive habits before you become pregnant; you'll increase your chances of both conceiving and carrying a healthy, full-term baby.

 Smoking and Fertility Issues

By now everyone knows that by smoking can cause serious health problems, but a report by the British Medical Association (BMA) in 2004 added to the ever growing list stating that "smoking can massively impair both the female and male reproductive systems." Numerous studies verify that women who don't smoke are twice as likely to get pregnant then women who smoke.


Smoking affects your hormonal balance by significantly increasing the concentration of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). Any lack of hormonal balance will affect your ability to conceive. Smoking can also lead to the premature onset of menopause by reducing the estrogen levels in pre-menopausal women to an amount which is more typical of women in the menopausal age bracket. This is particularly worrying for women trying to conceive who are over the age of 35 and are reaching the end of their child bearing years.


Smoking has also been shown to reduce the amount of Vitamin C in the blood; insufficient levels Vitamin C are linked to poor egg quality. Zinc also has an important affect on the reproductive organs, and women who smoke often have very high levels of the harmful mineral cadmium in their blood, hindering the body’s absorption of zinc.


The risk of miscarriage is also drastically higher for smokers. Estimates show that smoking is the cause of over 5000 miscarriages per year and that women who smoke even one cigarette a day increase their probability of miscarrying.

Dads Should Also Quit Smoking

It is also important that your partner quite smoking, as smoking directly affects the sperm in a number of ways. It alters their number, mobility, and structure, making impregnation less probable.


Smoking alters the sperm head in a way that reduces its ability to penetrate the egg cell. Researchers at the University of Buffalo compared the sperm of men who smoked more than four cigarettes a day to those of non-smokers. They bombarded one half of an egg cell wall with sperm of smokers and the other half with sperm of non-smokers and observed how many sperm had permanently attached themselves to the egg cell after a few hours. Their findings showed that an the sperm of smokers was a frightening 75% less fertile than those of non-smokers


Smoking can also damage the DNA of sperm, resulting birth deformities and cancer, and an increase in miscarriage rates. A study published in the British Journal of Cancer shows that male smokers have an increased risk of fathering children who develop cancers such as leukemia and brain tumors, even if their female partners does not smoke.


Smoking also frequently impairs a man's ability to get an erection, and with out that, well, a baby is just not going to happen!

Smoking Harms Your Baby

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4000 harmful substances that pass directly into the blood of your unborn baby and affect its development in different ways.


-Over 45 scientific studies show that smoking is one of the main causes of low birth weight.

-Pregnant women who smoke 30 cigarettes per day run a 33% risk of giving birth prematurely while non-smokers only have a 6% risk

-If a baby develops inside the womb of a smoking mother, he or she experience nicotine withdrawal symptoms at birth.

-Scientific studies have shown the probability of giving birth to a baby with forms of congenital deformities such as a cleft palate, harelip, squint, and deafness increases when either parent smokes.

- Smoking also causes oxygen deficiency (fetal hypoxia) that increases the risk of premature birth and congenital deformities.

Ready to Quit Smoking?

Free NHS support materials are available to help you quit smoking.

Order your free materials and begin your journey towards becoming a non-smoker by clicking here.

Alcohol and Fertility

Research shows that women who have a high alcohol intake are prone to experience irregular cycles and can often miss ovulation.


In a Danish study, more than 7000 women who had been trying to get pregnant without success for almost five years were questioned about their alcohol and nicotine consumption as well as any previous gynecological problems. The results showed that alcohol consumption was a significant factor in infertility in women over the age of thirty. Women in this age group who drank more then seven alcoholic drinks a week are half as likely to achieve a pregnancy. It seems that alcohol prevents the corpus luteum (yellow body) from producing a sufficient amount of progesterone, one of the most important hormones needed to maintain a pregnancy.

Alcohol and Fertility In Men

Your partner should also limit his alcohol intake if you are trying to conceive. Alcohol can lead to deformities of the sperm head leaving it incapable of fertilizing an egg. Alcohol also reduces the concentration of hormones needed to create sperm. Astonishingly, after an alcohol binge, the number of sperm is drastically reduced for several months.

Consequences of Alcohol During Pregnancy

Current research shows even small quantities of alcohol consumed by a pregnant women can affect the development of the fetus. Consuming alcohol during pregnancy can cause behavioral disorders and learning difficulties in the unborn child later in life.


Fully developed fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) results in brain damage, development disorders, reduced social skills, restricted growth, low birth weight, and heart and kidney deformities. There is also a milder form of FAS, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can cause coordination disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or diminished IQ scores.

Just a Reminder...

It goes without saying that any other forms of recreational drugs should be strictly avoided by both partners.

Get Healthy Now

It is not as if the current research detailing the negative effects of smoking and alcohol on pregnancy come as a surprise. Common scene tells us that any substances that alter our natural equilibrium are going to have an affect on the delicate little life that is just beginning to form, and at that early stage, minor imbalances can cause major problems. If you are reading this page it is probably because you are taking steps to becoming a parent, so even if you don't have any major addictions, it can't hurt to do a self check and get all harmful substances out of your system while there is still plenty of time.

Check out our website and read the original article here http://ethicalfamilyplanning.com/cigarettes-alcohol-fertility-and-conception