As I approach my one-year anniversary from the time I quit smoking cigarettes (end of April!), I’ve been weighing all the positive effects that decision has had on my life. I was 19, had smoked for several years and was at nearly a pack a day for two years by the time I stopped. Now that I’m tobacco free, I try to spread the word about how much better life is without it. Smoking affects just about every part of your body negatively and can even harm those around you, but its effects on women are particularly alarming.
My first reality check on how smoking affects reproductive health was when I ended up in the hospital with what my doctors thought could be a blood clot. I was on birth control pills and smoking heavily — more than half a pack per day — but luckily the doctors were wrong. Beyond the potentially deadly combination of contraceptive pills and smoking, there are other impacts that smoking has that require no other element.
The most commonly addressed topic relating to reproductive health and smoking is the effect that it has during pregnancy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have babies that are born prematurely, have a lower birth weight and are up to three times more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The American Cancer Society also notes that babies can be affected by harmful chemicals from smoking that are passed through breast milk.
In addition to the obvious conditions caused by smoking like lung cancer and heart disease, there are many lesser-known serious medical complications that can arise from cigarette smoking and tobacco use in general. A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology by the Yale University School of Medicine showed that an alarming number of women were unaware of female-specific smoking conditions such as: infertility, miscarriages, osteoporosis, early menopause, ectopic pregnancy and even cervical cancer.
And keep in mind, these are only the consequences to your reproductive health if you are a smoker. The repercussions to your heart, lungs and circulation can be devastating and are for many women who smoke. But it doesn’t only affect you; smoking affects everyone around you and can cause health issues for them as well.
Bottom line: stop smoking! Your quality of life will improve more than you can imagine, everyone around you will thank you and you will decrease your chances of suffering from debilitating medical conditions later on. There are endless resources of support to help you quit, all you have to do is ask.
Get started on stopping!
Visit smokefree.gov or call the American Cancer Society’s Quitline® at 800-227-2345 to find a support group and get more information on quitting smoking. Good luck!
A great place to begin is here. Leave your comments on how you quit if you’re a former smoker, or why you want to quit if you’re a current smoker. I’ll be happy to share with you how I did it and so will the EmpowHer community.