Baby’s long-term health and fertility at risk for smokers

South West residents have been encouraged by experts to consider the impacts smoking could have on their fertility prospects. Sunday marked World No Tobacco Day, for which Cancer Council WA and South West women’s health clinics teamed up to talk about smoking and fertility. Bunbury Maternity and Women's Clinic general practitioner obstetrician Amanda Sabel encouraged people not to smoke if they were trying to start a family. “The time for a couple to get pregnant if the man smokes is much longer,” Dr Sabel said. Cancer Council WA South West regional education officer Shenae Hawkins said smoking could seriously impede someone’s sex life and reproductive health. “This can mean it takes longer for you to conceive, and your baby’s long-term health can also be affected.” For women, smoking compromised nearly every system involved in the reproductive process, according to Mrs Hawkins. “The toxic chemicals in cigarettes can lead to egg loss or damage, making it harder to conceive,” she said. Dr Sabel said the average age to menopause was about two years earlier for women who smoked. “The carbon monoxide irreversibly binds to the oxygen carrying part of the red blood cell, so that means there’s a decrease in the amount of oxygen that gets to the ovaries, decreasing the number of eggs you produce each month.” Dr Sabel said parents who smoked had a 60 per cent chance of their child becoming a smoker. “A baby in a household of smokers will have generally more upper respiratory tract infections, more ear infections, high rates of asthma,” Dr Sabel said.