According to a study in Sweden, the sperm count of boys who have fathers that smoked while their mothers were pregnant can have a detrimental effect.
The impact of maternal smoking on the male foetus’ sperm count has repeatedly been shown, however this is the first study that has shown strong conclusive evidence that fathers smoking causes a lower sperm count in sons.
Published in PLOS One, the research strongly suggests that a father’s smoking habit during pregnancy may in fact be more damaging to the son’s sperm count than the mother’s smoking.
The research team found that men of smoking fathers had 41% lower sperm concentration and 51% lower total sperm count than the men of non-smoking fathers.
When looking at starting a family, Fertility First recognises that paternal health is equally as important as maternal health, which is why we offer services such as sperm DNA fragmentation testing and HBA for our male patients. Fertility First provides professional advice on how to improve fertility and sperm health to help give you the best chance of achieving a healthy pregnancy.
