The American Cancer Society states that tobacco use has a damaging effect on women's reproductive health.
Smoking is associated with complications of pregnancy, early menopause, and reduced fertility.
According to the Office of the Surgeon General, smoking is probably the most important modifiable cause of poor pregnancy outcomes among women in the United States. Tobacco use is associated with increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term delivery, and infant death, and is a cause of low birth weight in infants. Tobacco use during pregnancy slows fetal growth, often causing babies to have health problems as a result of low birth weight. The risk is somewhat less for infants whose mothers stop smoking during pregnancy and resume smoking after delivery. But, the lowest SIDS risk group is infants of nonsmoking mothers.