Gynaecologist, Dr Abosede Lewu Schools Couples On The Link Between Smoking & Infertility
An Obstetrician and Gynaecologist has revealed that men and women who smoke cigarettes experience high infertility rate than nonsmokers, due to health risks associated with smoking.
Dr Abosede Lewu, Team Lead at Girlsaide Initiative and Convener, Keep All Mothers Alive (KAMA) Project, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that such men and women who engage in smoking were “smoking away their babies”.
The expert further stated that cigarette contained many harmful chemicals such as nicotine, cyanide and carbon monoxide that could affect fertility in both men and women negatively. In her words:
“In women of childbearing age, smoking can speed up the loss rate of eggs, and they would not conceive as efficiently as nonsmokers.
“In pregnant women, smoking can cause miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, anomalies in babies, damage baby’s lungs, and also cause preterm contractions and even make baby small for his or her age.
“Later in life, sons of smoking mums can have low sperm count.
“In men, smoking can reduce sperm count, affect ability of sperm to move, causes abnormal sperm with damaged DNA, reduce volume of semen and decrease the sperm’s ability to fertilise egg.”
In addition, Dr Lewu said that a man or woman who smokes could also put their partners at risk through second hand smoke and they could suffer all the associated health risks. She, however, said that quitting smoking was one of the best natural ways to boost fertility.
According to her, if you quit smoking, fertility will improve, but does not reverse the decreased egg supply in women. She added:
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“Sadly, most people are not aware of the reproductive risks of smoking. And, we need to start educating and making people understand that smoking is a risk factor for infertility. So, they need to stop.”