Infertility - Know The Reasons Behind It

Hi,

I am Dr. Bandita Sinha, Gynaecologist. Today I will talk about infertility and the reason why infertility is on rising. Infertility is defined as when the couple tries for pregnancy for 1 year without protection and still not successful in getting pregnancy. If the pregnancy has never happened then it is known as primary infertility. But if the couple has pregnancy even it is failed pregnancy and they are not getting the second pregnancy then it is known as secondary infertility. Today w will talk about why there is an increase in the infertility rate. I have been practicing in the last 2 decades. Women are struggling to get pregnant. What are the causes? First is faulty ovulation. More and more patients are having PCOS nowadays. It is a condition where there is irregular periods, acne, hirsutism and inability to conceive because ovulation does not happen along with it there could be obesity also.

There can be delayed ovulation, no ovulation. The patient may have to go for IVF also. Again the can be another factor which is called antimalarial factor or AMH which detects the basic fertility of a female. We have seen more females having low AMH in their early 30s even in 20s also. This AMH value indicates the basic fertility level of a female and tells how many good eggs are there is an ovary. After this report, she can plan for her pregnancy. For low AMH, exact causes cannot be known. There can be lifestyle factor, environmental pollution, smoking, alcohol which can indicate low AMH value. On low AMH value, research yet to be done. Apart from this, there are conditions where there is premature ovarian failure. Which means ovaries are aging more than the actual age. And thereby, causing the inability to produce eggs and leading to early menopause. It is also one of the important conditions where we are seeing girls are going ahead with early menopause and low fertility and need artificial technology to get pregnant.

Blocked tubes are one of the important causes of infertility. Tubes are important to get pregnancy but these tubes can get blocked due to some infections. TB is one of the important causes for the blockage of fallopian tubes. Cervical factors, uterine factors, uterine fibroids or polyps, cervical stenosis can create a problem with getting pregnant and sustaining the pregnancy. If there is a uterine fibroid, there can be a repeated miscarriage. We have seen a number of thyroid patients having difficulty in conceiving because of the obesity and irregular periods. There is also some autoimmune disorder which can also lead to sub-fertility or difficulty in conception. Diabetes is on rising. This is another factor which is having an impact on egg quality.

How to improve these conditions? We can look to the lifestyle what we are leading. We have to include more amount of fresh fruits, vegetables which are more anti-oxidants and folic acid in our diet. We have to have a proper exercise schedule. If there is a tendency of weight gain, we have to reduce the weight. Adequate BMI should be between 18-25. Anything above 25 has to be counseled and weight reduction should be done accordingly. Stress management is very important. It has a greater effect on fertility hormones. If the female is stressed out then the fertility hormones get disturbed, the prolactin level may increase. All these things can lead to ovulation and sub-fertility because egg quality will not be adequate. Similarly, if there is a habit of smoking, alcohol, that has to be stopped before planning the pregnancy. It can also lead to certain syndromes or miscarriages.

So, we need to take care of our lifestyle. We need to change our lifestyle. We have to do proper stress management. We need to do certain techniques which can calm us down. We should go for meditation, yoga and whatever which can bring harmony back to our life and maybe by this we can improve fertility to a certain extent. And yes, the medical field is always there and diagnostic told are there which can help a lady to get the pregnancy and move forward.

Thank You!