Worried about your husband’s smoking habits? It’s a huge concern for many women. However, you’re not alone; we are ready to address your concerns. Smoking, drinking alcohol, and using drugs are some addictive habits that can dump the human brain.
Other than temporary pleasures, these habits become the root cause of several health issues, which also affect pregnancy and are a vital reason for infertility.
Yes, smoking can be a crucial reason for delayed pregnancy, which can also affect fetal development and reason for preterm deliveries. So, what can you do? How can you handle this situation?
Know about the crucial side effects of smoking and how it affects a couple’s parenthood journey.
Effects of Smoking on Male Fertility
It’s really shocking news that smoking can affect every organ of the body. Smoking cigars can result in,
- Cancer
- Heart disease, stroke, and lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Eye disease and problems with the immune system, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
- Type 2 diabetes.
- If you’re pregnant, miscarriages can happen.
- Premature aging.
- In addition, smoking severely affects reproductive health. Smoking cigarettes leads to erectile dysfunction, decreased sex drive, infertility, and sperm-related problems. Let’s get to know about them in detail.
Issues in Sperm: Tobacco smoking leads to decreased semen quality, including reduced semen volume, sperm motility, viability, density, and morphology. So, abnormalities of sperm lead to late or delayed pregnancy and reduce the overall chances of successful conception.
Erectile Dysfunction: The most important reason for erectile dysfunction is limited blood flow in the penis or any severe damage to the nerves. Continuous smoking severely affects blood circulation in plenty of ways. This is how smoking promotes erectile dysfunction.
Decreased Sex Drive: Studies conclude that smoking is highly related to low libido in men and women. Nicotine addiction increases stress levels, which can deeply influence the sex drive in men.
Infertility: Smoking affects the genetic material in sperm and egg, resulting in chromosomal abnormalities, ectopic pregnancy, congenital disabilities, preterm labour, and miscarriages. This crucial habit makes couples long to have their biological children for a long time.
Secondhand smoke
Secondhand or passive smoking affects the baby before and after their birth. The toxins carbon monoxide and nicotine during gestation in cigars enter into the bloodstream and pass into your little unborn baby.Â
Pregnant ladies who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to get these outcomes,Â
- Stillbirth
- Premature birth
- Low birth weight
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SID)
You can control your smoking habits for the well-being of your little one. But how is it possible to control others? It’s quite impossible. So, you can follow these preventive measures,Â
- Try avoiding places where you sense smokers and smoking is common.Â
- You can keep a small board as a thank you for not smoking in your office and home.Â
- Ask the people to stop smoking while travelling.Â
These are some possible tips to overcome secondhand smoking side effects.
Risks in conception
If your husband is a light or chain smoker, then you can face severe negative impacts during conception. Smoking can bring several health issues and reproductive problems. It damages sperm quality and reduces the chances of conception even after trying intercourse repeatedly.
Research also states that a higher infertility rate is observed among couples with a husband who drinks alcohol or practices smoking and husbands who don’t have habits of smoking. The infertility rate of the smoking husband is 13.8%, while the non-smoker husband’s infertility rate is 9.9%.
Pregnancy Risks if Conception Occurs
Whether your male partner is a chain or occasional smoker, smoking will create severe impacts on their reproductive system and make their pregnancy complicated.
Even if you become pregnant, you might experience these complications. They are,
- Low birth weight
- Congenital disabilities
- Stillbirth
- Sudden infant death symptoms
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Placental abruption
- Preterm birth
- Miscarriage
Impact on newborn baby
Smoking and secondhand smoke can affect the baby inside the womb and cause severe complications that become a barrier to fetal growth.
So, pregnant ladies, make sure you don’t practice alcohol or smoking habits and never go near the people who smoke. A fetus in the womb may experience,
- Slower or reduced growth and development.
- Increases the chance of birth defects like cleft palate and cleft lip (split lips).
- Baby movements inside the womb become less and weaker after one hour of smoking each cigarette.
- Affects the growth and development of the baby’s brain and lungs.
- Impaired development.
What is Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)?
First, let’s know who can choose this nicotine replacement therapy because it has worse effects on pregnant women and people with severe medical conditions like heart problems.
Who needs NRT?
If you have signs of severe nicotine dependence, then choose NRT immediately. Smoking
- More than 1 pack of cigarettes a day.
- As soon as you wake up from the bed.
- Even during sickness, you can’t stay without it.
- Waking up in the middle of sleep just to smoke.
What is NRT?
Nicotine Replacement Therapy helps to quit tobacco and have control over the cravings during the withdrawal of tobacco. In this procedure, you’ll intake nicotine instead of cigarettes. Smokers can go with different types of NRTs to quit smoking; they are:
- Patches
- Lozenges
- Inhalators
- Nasal or mouth spray
- Nicotine chewing gum
Consult your healthcare provider to find the right product that fits your health and body condition. As a man, be responsible, quit smoking, and try to quit smoking to enhance positive pregnancy outcomes.
How long it takes to improve male fertility after quitting smoking?
To everyone’s shock, men’s reproductive health started getting better once after they quit cigars. Yes, if you and your partner are expecting a happy conception journey, you must stop smoking, drinking alcohol and avoid using illicit drugs.Â
However, how long it takes to reduce the impact? Sperm takes around 64 to 74 days for complete maturation, so quitting smoking at least 3 months prior to planning pregnancy improves the successful outcomes. As a man, if you’re determined and conscious of quitting this habit, then you can increase the chance of successful fertilization and a healthy child.Â
Still, quitting the chain-smoking habit is not an easy deal. Still, you need to do it for the wellness and health of your baby and wife. Men can ask doctors to help them achieve this toughest goal and stop smoking successfully.Â
Tips to Quit Smoking
- Keep reminding the benefits of quitting smoking, like the health of a baby, successful parenthood, being a dad is real happiness, etc. Men can choose some emotional triggers as motivation so they can forget the harmful habit day by day.Â
- Try relaxation techniques to overcome stress. Men can do breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, yoga, massaging, and focusing on other important things than smoking. Â
- Choose some good filler to overcome tobacco cravings and keep distracting yourself whenever you crave.Â
- Learn to delay cravings, affirm yourself, wait for 10 minutes and reduce your cigarette craving.
- Men can also make quitting smoking a long-term habit by cutting off the number of cigars and alcohol shots for a long duration from their marriage. It improves your overall health and sperm quality.Â
- Alternate healthy snack options will improve overall health and boost fertility, so men opt for sunflower seeds, walnuts, etc.Â
- Focus on Nicotine replacement therapy and other techniques that your fertility expert suggests.Â
Following these habits will effectively help you overcome smoking cravings and improve your reproductive health. Â
Conclusion
Quitting smoking and alcohol requires patience, persistence, and the right guidance. So, utilize this guide and opt for professional assistance to stop smoking habits and improve your reproductive health.
Getting pregnant is possible even if your husband is a smoker, but the health of the baby becomes a question mark. Therefore, ask your male partner to overcome their smoking habit to get a healthy little child. Also, make sure to avoid smoking when your wife is pregnant.
FAQs
No, giving up the smoking habit is the best help that you can give yourself. No matter what the time is, still quitting smoking before trying to get pregnant is a better idea to overcome hazardous effects.
Yes, every man and woman can choose to cut down their chain smoking or drinking alcohol habits instead of stopping altogether. It’s because a small step towards a huge goal makes it achievable.Â
