If you want your baby to be protected from the many risks associated with smoking, the safest choice is to quit from the moment you decide to get pregnant. You will often only find out you are pregnant after a few weeks of being that way. If you continue to smoke your unborn child might develop signs of damage at an early stage.
Smoking in both women and men can also reduce fertility. In women who smoke it often takes longer to get pregnant. Research has shown that smokers need twice as many IVF treatments in vitro fertilization thannon-smokers do. If you want to avoid problems you should also stop drinking from the moment you decide to become pregnant.
When you continue to drink alcohol your unborn child can develop signs of damage at an early stage. In addition to this, drinking one or more glasses of alcohol a day may reduce fertility in both women and men.
Because of this, it may take longer before the woman gets pregnant. With regular drinking more than 20 alcoholic drinks per week a man can even become impotent. Risk of miscarriage is higher if the woman or the man, or both, drink alcohol.
Alcohol can damage the egg or the semen. This can lead to a non-viable foetus upon fertilisation with miscarriage as a result. The more alcohol that is drunk by both partners, the greater the risk of a miscarriage or infertility.
