The first thing you should know is that you can have fibroids and still successfully become pregnant and carry a child. There can be some issues though, so keep reading to find out what they are. Fibroids and pregnancy: what you should know.
Continue reading “Fibroids And Pregnancy: What You Should Know”
Women who decide to put off having children may find later in life that they have difficulty trying to conceive or carry to term. If you are not ready for kids just yet, but still think you may want them someday, it is wise to consider all the factors that can affect your ability to conceive down the road. There are even ways you can proactively (and positively) impact them!
Continue reading “8 Fertility Factors and What to Do About Them”
Endometriosis is a much more prevalent issue than many people might think. In fact, fewer than 1/3 of women know what endometriosis is, despite it affecting approximately one out of every ten women in the United States.
Endometriosis occurs when uterine tissue begins to grow outside of the uterus. Because this tissue responds to a woman’s menstrual cycle, symptoms can be confused with period pain. Since the tissue has no way of leaving the body, lesions, scar tissue and inflammation can occur. All of these symptoms could potentially lead to infertility.
If you are having trouble getting pregnant and you experience any of the following symptoms, your infertility could be due to endometriosis.
To determine if you have endometriosis, Dr. Odom may perform a laparoscopy. During this procedure, a tiny camera will be inserted into the abdomen and the doctor will examine the internal organs. The goal is to find out if any abnormal endometrial tissue is present, and determine the size and location of the issue.
While the reason is widely debated, research shows that women with endometriosis tend to have lower fecundity, or the ability to produce children. This fecundity is similar to that of a woman of an older age, putting someone with endometriosis, regardless of age, at risk of becoming infertile.
Most cases of endometriosis are mild, and many women with a mild form of the condition are still fertile. In women with severe endometriosis, it is more likely that there will be pelvic scarring, damage to the eggs / ovaries and distortion of pelvic anatomy, which can cause infertility.
Treatments vary on a case-by-case basis depending on the severity of the issue, the disease location, the age of the woman and the presence of other symptoms. But, in general, endometriosis will be treated with medication, surgery or a combination of both.
For mild cases, drug treatment can keep symptoms under control and surgical removal of lesions may help temporarily. But unfortunately, no link between these treatments and improved fertility have been found.
For severe cases, studies have found that these treatments can slightly increase a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant.
When traditional methods for becoming pregnant fail, there are other options. Ovarian stimulation or intrauterine insemination can be successful for some women with mild endometriosis, but those methods tend to fail when women have severe symptoms.
