Introduction: Smoking is one of the major contributors to public health issues. The use of tobacco products during conception and pregnancy can pose significant risks to the embryo and fetus. Not only does it harm the unborn child, but it can also contribute to difficulty in conception, infertility and ultimately lead to miscarriage. Purpose: The purpose and objective of this thesis are to determine women's readiness to quit smoking during conception. Additionally, we aim to inquire women's existing knowledge, raise awareness about the dangers of passive smoking, and explore the impact of a partner's smoking on reproductive health, conception, embryo, fetus, and child. Methods: In this thesis, we utilized a descriptive and causal-nonexperimental method of empirical research. The research approach was based on quantitative research, using an online questionnaire. We used a time frame from 2013 to 2023 for our research. Older sources were also used for their content relevance and significance. Results: In our final analysis we included 32 articles and 1 brochure. In the empirical part, using a questionnaire, we found that the majority of women expressed a desire to quit smoking, but did not take action to do so. Most of them are aware of the consequences of tobacco on fertility, pregnancy outcomes, fetal development, and child health. Most of their partners smoked during conception and pregnancy. Women are mostly aware of the impact of their partner's smoking. They know about harmful effects of passive smoking and mostly feel they do not need additional information about it. More women with lower education, BMI lower than 35, and fluctuating dietary habits did not quit smoking before conception. Discussion and conclusion: Despite being aware of the risks of smoking on reproductive health and the developing child, women consciously choose to continue smoking. We believe that women would smoke less if their partners did not smoke at home, and if they had adequate support and motivation to quit from their partners. It would be sensible to strenghten health education for women.
|