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When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Conception

HOW bad is smoking while ttc?

23 replies

FemaleoftheSpecies · 17/10/2006 21:29

lazy question so sorry..i could google but fancied the personal view.. am i cutting my chances majorly.. or majorly upping risks of chem pregnancies etc?

am being quite selfish i know but i just feel like enjoying my five or so cigs a day while i can.. will this cut my chances substantially?

OP posts:

Report

Bodkin · 17/10/2006 22:58

Know loads of people who have had happy "accidents" - drinking and smoking for England. But, on the other hand, I suppose if you are really trying and want to do everything you can, you would feel gutted a year down the line if nothing has happened and you might wish you had stopped. Sorry, probably not want you want to hear.

I smoked about 5 rollies a day for years and it was hard work giving up. Took a few attempts over a couple of years, but when ttc first time round it just really felt like the right time and it was so totally worth it.

colditz · 17/10/2006 23:03

If you can't quit now, how do you think you will be able to quit when you become pregnant? It's the most stressful time of your life! And, if you only quit because you are pregnant, the temptation to start again when you are not pregnant anymore will be enormous

Piffle · 17/10/2006 23:05

smoking is bad for you full stop let alone when ttc...
Do it now Give up the weed!

Bodkin · 17/10/2006 23:27

Oh yeah - meant to say - I used Alan Carr to help on various attempts. It is a long read, but it does help you to see smoking as the addiction it really is, even if you only smoke a few a day. It teaches you that you never "enjoy" a fag, you only enjoy the relief from the craving.

Good luck anyway.

ready4motherhood · 18/10/2006 19:25

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but you really should quit! Not just for TTC but for your own health! I might sound like a nagging nanny so I apologise in advance, but you did ask!

Article in the Guardian (2004)"Women have a 40% lower chance of getting pregnant if they smoke, according to a report published by the British Medical Association. Smoking and passive smoking was also responsible for up to 5,000 miscarriages and 120,000 cases of male impotence in men aged between 30 and 50 every year, said the report.

x

FemaleoftheSpecies · 18/10/2006 19:28

tks.. 40%.. i feared it wasn't good news but that makes it concrete. was putting off looking for cold hard stats myself but figured i had to ask.

sorry if this sounds divvy; obv everyone knows smoking is not good (slight understatement) but hopefully this'll give me full impetus to quit.

here goes :-)

OP posts:

ready4motherhood · 18/10/2006 19:31

I have never smoked, so it easy for me to sit here spounting 40% etc, I can't imagine how hard it would be to give up - so all the best!!!!

ready4motherhood · 18/10/2006 19:32

that should have said spouting not spounting oops.

FemaleoftheSpecies · 18/10/2006 19:33

i didnt start 'til i was 19. was always v adamantly against. not good. so just over ten years, mainly lightly but certainly less than ever used to. have quit a few times but something gives. will go for it now. tks for support :-)

OP posts:

FillyjonkthePumpkinEater · 18/10/2006 19:49

yeah, but if you concieve its not like you'll know right away! so you will be smoking while pg with all the associated risks-low birthweight, cot death, etc etc. I think. dunno what the risks are but I know its not a great idea.

yes I know its bloody hard-I gave up about 6 years ago, and it was vile-but its do-able, juyst hard.

DarrellSHivers · 18/10/2006 20:01

As soon as I stopped, I conceived.
We had been trying for 6 months.
SEcond time, conceived immediately
Worked for me.
Good luck, although I did find being pregnant certainly discouraged me from ever having a cig ever again. They went from being fab to disgusting.

expatinscotland · 18/10/2006 20:09

it made no difference to me.

it took me 6 months to conceive DD1, and i was smoking a pack a day.

it took me 6 months to conceive DD2, and i was a non smoker.

Mercy · 18/10/2006 20:17

I was still smoking when I conceived my first child (ditto for the next 2 pregnancies and I was a late starter of over 36, had no problems conceiving blah blah)

BUT, my first child is now 5.6 and is learning about health issues etc at school and keeps asking me to stop smoking because it's damaging my lungs and I might die soon.

Ok so it may or not affect your chances of conceiving, but it will affect your likelihood of dying prematurely. A few years ago there was advert. to try to shock people into stopping smoking

"If you think giving up smoking is hard, try telling your children you've got lung cancer"

I know I'm being two faced because I still smoke but please try (I have no idea how I managed when pg but I did, just!)

DarrellSHivers · 18/10/2006 20:21

HAven't smoked in 4 years but still like walking behind a cig smoker on the street.I love the smell, particularly on balmy summer evenings
Shoot me now

Tortington · 18/10/2006 20:24

pmsl @this thread title.

nybor · 10/06/2008 13:16

I am trying to conceive at the moment and have found it difficult to not smoke when drunk. I only smoke when pickled but love to get pickled once a week, which I guess is binge drinking. (Yes... I know that both are really bad when trying for a baby)

I am coming to terns with having to give up both which is scary. I enjoy a lively social life, especially during the summer months. I am also 39 so even more serious.

Anyone got more info to divulge? Top tips?

BTW I this is my first message, I am a newbie so if I make any mistakes please be kind.

MamaFormerlyKnownAsGlam · 10/06/2008 13:21

I got pregnant twice whilst being a smoker. As soon as I found out I stopped. I found it much easier stopping when pregnant because I had to think of the fetus. Unfortunately I started smoking again within a few months of each birth (no longer poisoning my babies directly). It is a very difficult addiction to eradicate. I'm planning on making my last cig on Friday night. Good luck however you do it.

soosy · 10/06/2008 14:23

I was a huge smoker and loved it, miss it enormously. My mum smoked through four pg's and we are all fine, sadly she died before her grandsons were born. Smoking while ttc is probably not so bad if you have no fertility problems, but it does effect you egg quality, and is enormously bad for sperm.

The reason I know this is I gave up before having years of IVF to conceive DS. So while it may be fine for lots of people, it may not be good for others.

Good luck to everyone trying to give up, I still find the temptation enormous when drunk!

ScaryHairy · 12/06/2008 08:59

Smoking increases the risk of having an ectopic pregnancy too, so it is worth bearing that in mind.

Also I find that since I have had my daughter, I want to be around to see her grow up and so other than the occasional party cig about once a year I am trying to be a whole lot healther. She's the best motivation I could need to stay stopped (and yes, I want a cigarette at least once a week even though I basically quit 4 years ago).

BlaDeBla · 12/06/2008 10:26

It's pretty bad for fertility and can shrivel your ovaries as well as stopping oxygen getting around your body. Allen Carr is good and the NHS smoking clinics are helpful too.

Cosette · 12/06/2008 10:40

I've never smoked, and I know it can be really hard to give up, as I watched my aunt try for years, and she wasn't able to, despite losing one of her twins at 6months and being in hospital for 3 weeks before delivering the second one, and being told that smoking was probably a factor.

Ironically she was able to give up the same day that she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. So sad, both my cousins had begged their mum to give up smoking for years, but she couldn't. She died about 18months after diagnosis - which was much longer than originally expected. She was only in her 50's, and had a new grandchild.

bethoo · 12/06/2008 10:45

apparantly it can make it 3 times harder to conceive.
though i was an occassional smoker when i conceived and was still smoking as had not planned to. non smoker now though!

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TillyScoutsmum · 12/06/2008 10:52

I gave up smoking and conceived in about 5 months. I then miscarried - conceived again almost straight away, miscarried again ...

Starting smoking again (no excuse but I was very stressed and upest and just sort of starting getting into again). Conceived again in 5 months - gave up as soon as I found out I was pg and now have dd .

It was easy to give up once I was pg (morning sickness made me hate the smell etc.) but I did feel very bad that I had been smoking for the first couple of weeks of being pg without knowing it.

Does your dh/dp smoke ??

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