Preconception
Month 1:
You and your baby's health
Smokers (whether you or your partner) take longer to conceive.
Top benefits
As soon as you stop smoking fertility begins to improve.
Preconception
Month 2:
You and your baby's health
Passive smoking (inhaling someone else's smoke) is almost as damaging to fertility as smoking.
Top benefits
You will be coughing and wheezing less within 2 months of quitting
Preconception
Month 3:
You and your baby's health
Smoking can damage the DNA in eggs and sperm, affecting your child's future health.
Top benefits
Quitting smoking means a healthier you, and a much greater chance of conceiving.
Trimester 1
Month 1:
You and your baby's health
Quitting in the early weeks of pregnancy reduces the risk of pregnancy complications
Top benefits
Your body is better at fighting infection.
Trimester 1
Month 2:
You and your baby's health
Everything you eat, drink and breathe, including cigarette smoke, affects your baby.
Top benefits
Your lungs are starting to heal as cilia, the tiny hairs that clean your lungs, begin to recover from paralysing tobacco toxins
Trimester 1
Month 3:
You and your baby's health
Quitting smoking decreases the risk of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy that develops outside the uterus).
Top benefits
Women who quit smoking in the first three months of pregnancy reduce the risk of a pre-term birth.
Trimester 2
Month 1:
You and your baby's health
Clear the air for your baby girl: exposure to cigarette smoke in utero affects the development of a baby girl's ovaries.
Top benefits
After 4 months of quitting smoking your blood is less thick and sticky, reducing your risk of harmful clots
Trimester 2
Month 2:
You and your baby's health
Quitting smoking during pregnancy decreases the risk of a range of birth defects.
Top benefits
Quitting smoking before the third trimester helps with your baby's birthweight.
Trimester 2
Month 3:
You and your baby's health
Quitting smoking decreases the risk that your baby will be born with weaker lungs, which may persist into childhood
Top benefits
Women who stop smoking before the third trimester of pregnancy can avoid much of the effect of smoking on birthweight.
Trimester 3
Month 1:
You and your baby's health
Passive smoking is almost as damaging to your unborn baby's health as smoking.
Top benefits
It's not too late! Quitting at any time during your pregnancy reduces the risk of harm to your baby.
Trimester 3
Month 2:
You and your baby's health
When you smoke, your baby gets less oxygen. Quitting during pregnancy will mean your baby's lungs will be stronger.
Top benefits
You'll be breathing easier than if you'd kept smoking
Trimester 3
Month 3:
You and your baby's health
Quitting smoking improves your baby's immune system.
Top benefits
By staying quit you're protecting the health of your child and your partner.
Up to a year
You and your baby's health
Women who smoke reach menopause almost two years earlier than nonsmokers.
Babies exposed to cigarette smoke have an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Top benefits
You're a healthy role model for your child.
