Using tobacco and vaping products and being exposed to second or third-hand smoke or being exposed to aerosol from vaping can affect your health and the health of those around you.
It’s best to avoid use and being exposed to tobacco and vaping products. Change can take time-there is support to help reduce your risk and quit.
Note: References to ‘tobacco’ on this page do not include ‘traditional tobacco’ used by First Nations and Metis groups for ceremonial purposes.
Unfortunately, neither are safe. Tobacco and vaping products have toxic and cancer-causing chemicals in them.
These are harmful to your health and the health of those around you. There is no safe amount of use or exposure to tobacco and vaping products. However, if you aren’t ready to quit, there may be less harmful options. Talk with your healthcare provider about possible alternatives.
Learn more about the harms of tobacco and vaping products here.
One of the best ways for anyone to improve their health and decrease the risk of disease is to stop using tobacco and vaping products. This can also increase fertility and reduce the risk of harm to a developing baby or child.
Benefits of quitting include:
See more benefits for quitting smoking here.
For more information to lower your risk, go to Tobacco Use, Smoking and Vaping
Tobacco and vaping product use can affect the ability to become pregnant as well as other parts of a person’s reproductive and sexual health.
People who smoke tobacco may have more trouble becoming pregnant compared to those who don’t smoke.
Those that smoke tobacco have a higher risk of ectopic (tubal) pregnancy (the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus). Ectopic pregnancies always mean that the pregnancy will end. It can be life-threatening if the growing embryo bursts the fallopian tube.
Smoking may also increase the risk of some types of tumors in the ovaries and almost doubles the risk of cervical cancer. Both partners affect the success of getting pregnant. Smoking can cause erectile dysfunction (getting or keeping an erection).
This is because smoking causes blood vessels to be unable to open enough to allow the blood to enter the penis in a large enough quantity for an erection. Smoking is also linked to cancer of the testicles which could lead to infertility and/or low sperm count.
Sperm quality can be affected by tobacco, nicotine, as well as alcohol and other drugs or medicines. Sperm cells take about three months to form. As a result, there’s a big window of opportunity for the chemicals in the smoke to affect the sperm cells.
Smoking may damage sperm, making it harder for sperm to reach and enter the egg.
Vaping is not harm-free. More research is needed to understand the effects of vaping on sperm quality and fertility.
When thinking about having a baby, it’s a good time to think about reducing risks, and better yet, stopping the use of tobacco and vaping products if you can. Consider changing now and keeping it going beyond your baby’s arrival. Your family will benefit too.
Whether you are able to quit or not, keep smoking and vaping outside your home and car. It will be better for you and your family’s health.
For more information about Sexual health and fertility or erectile dysfunction (impotence) related to tobacco use, see the Government of Canada site.
There are many tools and supports to help you reduce and quit.
Quitting tobacco or nicotine products like vapes is different for each person. Each time a quit attempt is made, new things are learned that can help you the next time. Learning what triggers you to use tobacco or nicotine helps you to figure out ways to manage these triggers.
When trying to quit smoking, some people switch to a smokefree tobacco or vaping product, thinking it’s less harmful to their health. Unfortunately, these products can still cause harm.
If you had difficult withdrawal symptoms when trying to quit in the past, a better option is to choose a Health Canada approved medicine to help you quit These medicines improve your chances of success. Talk with your health care provider about nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and other non-nicotine medications. These will help you manage cravings and other symptoms.
NOTE: Tobacco products that are smoked, like cigarettes and cigars, can change how some medicines work in your body. If you smoke and take medicines for health conditions, talk with your health care provider before you reduce and quit to see if you’re taking any of these medicines.
When you reduce and stop using smoked tobacco products, your body breaks down caffeine more slowly. The effects of caffeine can become stronger, which can make you feel unwell. If you use products with caffeine like soft drinks, coffee, tea, energy drinks or chocolate, reduce your intake by half of what you’d normally use.
If you can reduce and quit using tobacco or vaping products, it benefits your health and the health of your future developing baby. Avoiding smoke and aerosol from vaping supports a healthy pregnancy while promoting growth of the developing baby’s brain and lungs.
Helping your baby to grow healthy is important, but your health is important too! If you can reduce and quit it will benefit you and your family.
Stopping smoking can have the following health benefits:
Stopping vaping can have the following health benefits:
AlbertaQuits is an Alberta Health Services program that provides free support to reduce and quit using tobacco and vaping products. There is a helpline, support group and text service that you can use to get help and advice.
For more information and a full listing of services, please visit Getting Help – AlbertaQuits.
If you or your partner want to learn more about tips to change your tobacco or vaping use, visit Tobacco Use, Smoking, and Vaping
If you are worried about withdrawal symptoms, talk with your health care provider about which medicines you can use to help reduce and quit using tobacco or vaping products. For more information go to Quit Medications – Preparing to Quit – AlbertaQuits.
Ready or Not contains a lot of information. So we created My To-Do List for you to use as a personal reminder, share with your partner, or bring to your next check-up.
Be sure to click “Add this to my To-Do List” anytime you see something you want to print, email, save, or share. Because we do not ask for any personal information, your list will only be saved for a week after your last added item.
