- Smoking- Smoking is seen as a potential health risk for a woman before and during pregnancy. Smoking increases the risk of miscarriages and adversely affects hormone production and environment in the uterus. Risk of IUGR (intra uterine growth restriction) for the baby is very high as is the risk of pre-ecclampsia for the mother. Risk to both maternal and foetal health and life is many times more in smokers.
- Alcohol- Although cutting out alcohol when trying to conceive is a sensible recommendation, pre-conception alcohol intake can decrease chances of spontaneous pregnancy and also success of fertility treatments. Drinking causes disruption to menstrual cycles, affects quality of egg, reduced chances of fertilisation, lowered hormone concentrations and increased risk of miscarriage and foetal anomalies.
- Stress- In today’s fast paced society, stress is common among most women but this can reduce her conception chances. Stress can disrupt the functioning of the hypothalamus which is the gland in the brain that regulates your hormones. This in turn affects the ovulatory cycle an can cause menstrual and ovulatory irregularities.
