How Family Planning Can Benefit You When the Time Is Right
Family planning is just as much about when not to have a baby as it is to work toward conception. Preventing unwanted pregnancies now can improve your options for the future.
How Smoking Can Impact Your Reproductive Health
Plenty of women smoke when they’re younger, and give up cigarettes after they become pregnant. However, you shouldn’t wait until a positive test to quit cigarettes, and breaking the habit early can help preserve your fertility. Whether you plan on having children or just want to keep your options open, it’s never a bad time to stop smoking.
The specialists at Eve Medical of Miami in Miami, Florida, provide a full range of women's reproductive health services including gynecological care and well woman exams.
How smoking affects your reproductive health
You’ve likely heard the stories: Smoking is bad for your lungs, heart, arteries, and every other system in your body. People who smoke are constantly reminded that it’s bad for them, but it gets easier to ignore the warnings over time.
It can be difficult to grasp the consequences of smoking, especially when you’re still young and active. You might not experience problems with your heart or lungs for many years, but smoking can have unforeseen consequences, especially if you plan on starting a family.
Tobacco can affect your fertility and reproductive system in many ways, including:
- Changing the quality of your cervical mucus, making it difficult to conceive
- Damaging your eggs as they develop, lowering fertility
- Causing issues with the fallopian tubes, such as ectopic pregnancy
- Increasing your risk of cervical cancer
Men and women who smoke are twice as likely to suffer from infertility than non-smokers. Even if you do conceive, smoking before or during pregnancy increases your chances of miscarriage or stillbirth.
Planning ahead
If you plan on having a child, quitting cigarettes is the best thing you can do for them. The sooner you quit, the healthier you will be when you finally get pregnant, and the healthier your child will be as a result.
Breaking the habit early can also reduce your chances of picking it back up again, protecting your child from the effects of secondhand smoke.
Even if your dreams of having a family are distant or nonexistent, just quitting cigarettes can improve your health tenfold. Within the first year of quitting, your risk of heart attack drops, your breathing improves, and your immune system gets back on its feet. You might even notice cosmetic benefits, like a brighter complexion, thicker hair, and healthier teeth.
Concerned about your reproductive health? At Eve Medical, our team is dedicated to understanding your side of the story. You can schedule a well-woman exam by calling 305-707-6030 or requesting an appointment online.
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