Smoking can interrupt the menstrual cycle and may cause women to enter menopause earlier than otherwise. Depending on what phase their cycle is in when they start an anti-smoking programme, it may alter how they respond to some anti smoking treatments.

Among the sociological factors, women tend to be more concerned about gaining weight if they try to stop smoking. Women may also be more susceptible to environmental factors than men, associating smoking with specific moods or friends. Women and girls may be more susceptible to peer pressure and advertising.

Women smokers are just as vulnerable to serious health problems like lung cancer or cardiovascular disease as their male counterparts.

Estrogen is a group of steroid compounds, named for their importance in the estrous cycle, and they function as the primary female sex hormone.

Women smokers who are pregnant run a greater risk of pregnancy complications, pre-term delivery, miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death. Smoking can result in low birth-weight as babies born to smokers are on average 7 ounces lighter than those of non-smokers.

If a women smokes while pregnant she is thought to have a 33% higher chance of losing her baby before or just after its birth. Even after a child is born, smoking by a parent increases the chances of sudden infant death syndrome, infant and prenatal deaths, learning disorders and attention deficit disorder in young children.