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HypnoFertility Clinic

Smoking and Fertility


Stop smoking!


There is no gentle way to say this to you if you are a smoker. The good news is that once you stop smoking there is no nicotine left in your body after 24 hours. The addiction is the ritual, the habit and the social interaction.

Even though your motivation to quit smoking would be high when trying to have a baby, giving up can still be very difficult. (You can call us at the clinic and arrange for hypnotherapy to give you a helping hand… more details at the bottom of the page).

The reason that you need to stop smoking, apart from all the normal dangers such as cancers, lung and heart problems, is that it will greatly diminish your chances of conception.

Female Fertility

Studies suggest that:

  • Smoking reduces the amount of estrogen that your body produces.
  • Smoking may affect the way that the hormone estrogen is released.
  • Smoking may cause a decrease of blood flow to the genital organs, resulting in dryness of the vagina and other sexual issues.
  • Smoking may contribute to the destruction of eggs whilst in the ovaries and before they reach maturity, resulting in a lower egg count.
  • Smoking can negatively impact the fallopian tubes. This could lead to disease of the fallopian tubes.
  • Smoking can cause your eggs to be more prone to genetic problems.
  • Smoking may even negatively affect the ability of an embryo to implant in the uterus.

The rate of successful conception drops further the longer the woman has smoked.

Studies also suggest that women who have never smoked have had as much as twice the degree of success when trying to conceive, than those who have smoked.

Male Fertility

Research suggests that:

  • Smoking may result in a low or lower sperm count.
  • Smoking may affect the sperm’s motility.
  • Smoking may lead to genetically abnormal sperm.

Your Unborn Baby

Furthermore, you will most certainly want to stop smoking once you conceive, to protect your unborn child.

Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including truly nasty things like cyanide, lead, and at least 60 cancer-causing compounds. When you smoke during pregnancy, that toxic brew gets into your bloodstream; your baby's only source of oxygen and nutrients.

Ob-gyn Robert Welch is chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan. Welch has helped thousands of women with high-risk pregnancies realise their dreams of a healthy baby. Despite all these successes, there's still one situation that truly scares him: a pregnant woman who can't quit smoking.

"Smoking cigarettes is probably the No. 1 cause of adverse outcomes for babies," he says.

Welch has seen the complications far too many times: babies born prematurely, babies born too small, even babies who die before they can be born at all. In his view, pregnancies would be much safer and the babies much healthier if pregnant smokers could somehow swap their habit for a serious disease such as diabetes or high blood pressure!

"I can control those conditions with medications," Welch says. But when a pregnant woman smokes, he says, nothing can protect her baby from danger.

Studies show that when a pregnant women smoke, there is a significant and increased risk of:

  • Miscarriage
  • Stillbirth
  • Premature delivery
  • Low birth weight

If you look into how the baby is affected in more detail in these circumstances, it truly is scary and cruel to put an unborn child through that.

Every cigarette you smoke increases the risks to your pregnancy.

It does not end there either. Even if you do manage to give birth (which is not guaranteed because smoking during pregnancy can cause underdeveloped little bodies, internally and externally) there is the risk of lifelong effects on your baby's brain. Then there’s also your stress levels to be coped with as you worry about what you may have done to your baby.


Stop smoking at least two months before trying to conceive - your future baby is worth it.


Some simple deep breathing, practiced daily, will automatically balance both sides of your brain… really it’s true! So take a deeeeeep breath ...hold it for a count of 5 and exhale deeply with the sound coming out of your mouth - ARGHH. Repeat several times. You might think it funny but it is a great yogic technique that lets your whole mind and body groan out your built up stress.


Even though you're aware of the dangers of smoking, it's not always easy to give up the habit. If you are finding it difficult to quit on your own, call us at the clinic for hypnotherapy help to quit smoking. Results from over 600 studies have shown that hypnosis is 3 times as effective as a Nicotine Patch and 15 times more effective than willpower alone!

Alternatively check out your local health store for natural solutions or see your doctor (or all of the above!)

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