November 15, 2012 is the date of the37th annual Great American Smokeout. It's a great time to quit Smoking, especially if you're a woman who wants to get pregnant. The effects of smoking aren't only bad for babies in utero – it's bad for your fertility.

The ASRM Patient's Fact Sheet on Smoking and Infertility gives you some of the details on how smoking can get in the way of your getting pregnant. And now, there's a study that highlights another angle of why moms-to-be should kick the habit: Women who smoke lose a decade of life.

Many of my patients arrive at Houston Fertility Center having struggled for years to get pregnant before finally deciding to use assisted reproductive techniques. So, as with many fertility practices, I counsel a lot of older moms-to-be, who have a few things to worry about that women in their 20's don't when it comes to infertility. Women in their 30's and 40's often express different concerns about how their bodies will fare through pregnancy, labor and delivery, and they often have more questions about higher risks for their babies. I doubt if a single one of my older patients hasn't done some quick math – with a little trepidation – to figure out how old she'll be when her child is a teenager or heads to college. Longevity is a natural, normal concern.

In this UK study published recently in the medical journal The Lancet, more than 1 million women were surveyed and followed for up to 15 years and asked about their cigarette smoking habits. The impact on their mortality was significant. From the study:

So, older moms, you have even more reason to stop smoking now – you might want to enjoy being a grandmother longer.