Ask any mom who's experienced fertility problems and she'll tell you: It's much easier to prevent fertility problems than to treat them when they happen. With that in mind, here are some tips to safeguard your fertility and possibly prevent problems from arising.

Smoking can affect your fertility in several ways: You are at greater risk for pelvic inflammatory disease (which affects fertility); you are at higher risk for miscarriage and delivering premature or low birth weight babies; and studies have shown that smokers are 30 percent less fertile than nonsmokers.

A woman's chance of getting pregnant drops from about 20 percent when under age 30 to 5 percent when over age 40. Additionally, the risk of miscarriage and birth defects increases with maternal age.

This term refers to the infection of one of your pelvic organs, including the cervix, uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. The primary cause of PID is untreated sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but it can also be caused by an IUD, douching, abortions, amniocentesis, miscarriage and childbirth. PID can do irreparable damage to your reproductive organs.

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