Cause For Infertility

Vitamin D Deficiency can Cause Infertility

Vitamin D plays a role in human fertility. Deficiency of vitamin D can cause infertility among women and men.

Austrian physicians Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch and Elisabeth Lerchbaum found that low levels of vitamin D often lead to too much testosterone, which therefore could increase the risk of infertility among women. Also, when men are given extra vitamin D they produce more testosterone subsequently affecting the semen quality.

Researchers said, "It may not be that controlling vitamin D is the ultimate answer to fertility problems but it could be a very cheap and simple solution at least in some cases."

The finding has been published in the European Journal of Endocrinology's.

IVF Patients

How many weeks pregnant am I?

 

Many IVF patients get very confused about how the doctor calculates the age of their pregnancy (= gestational age, in medical jargon). Logically, shouldn't it be from the day of the embryo transfer? After all, it's only after the embryos are transferred that a woman can be considered to be pregnant!

However, doctors are not always logical, and we usually use the menstrual age when talking about the length of the pregnancy. This is because obstetricians usually see women who have got pregnant after having sex in their bedroom. Very few of them will know the exact date they ovulated, which is why we use the menstrual age in clinical practice. This does not change just because you have had an IVF pregnancy - the clinical rules remain the same!

This creates a lot of confusion in patient's minds - especially when they are trying to make sense of their ultrasound scan results or their HCG levels.

Remember that your OB is always talking about the menstrual age - not the age of theembryo ! This is purely for clinical convenience and is a well-accepted universal convention.

So how do you convert the date of embryo transfer to menstrual age. This is very simple! The key reproductive event you need to focus on is ovulation! It makes much more sense to talk about the pregnancy in terms of DPO (days post ovulation), rather than the menstrual age or the day of the embryo transfer. This is because we can use this landmark for all situations (including IUI pregnancies; and for Day 3 embryo transfers and Day 5 embryo transfers aswell !)

Since every IVF patient knows the date they ovulated (= the day of egg collection), it's easy to calculate your menstrual age. Just subtract 14 from your date of ovulation. This is your "corrected LMP" (last menstrual period).

(Corrected) LMP = Date of egg collection minus 14

The reason we do this is simple - it's because text books assume the follicular phase is exactly 14 days! Once you know your corrected LMP, its then easy to use this as the anchor, based on which your OB can calculate your gestational age.

This means that the menstrual age will always be 14 days more than the actual age of the embryo.

Confused? Let's look at an example.

Let's suppose your LMP was 5 Jan; and your egg collection was done on 24 Jan (let’s assume you took a long time to grow eggs); and your embryo transfer was done on 29 Jan (Day 5 transfer). The HCG pregnancy test will be usually done about 14 days post ovulation (DPO), which is 7 Feb. If it's positive - say 120mIU/ml, the doctor will confirm you are pregnant! This means that even though you are only 14 DPO ( and your embryo's age is only 14 days ) , he will calculate your corrected LMP as 10 Jan ( date of ovulation , 24 Jan, minus 14 days) - which means your clinical gestational age ( or menstrual age) will become 4 weeks ( 28 days) ! Once you understand this “2 week gap" and the rationale behind it, you'll find it much easier to date your pregnancy!

Donor Eggs and Egg donation

We run an active egg donation program which is a very useful treatment option for older women; women with ovarian failure; and those who have failed many IVF cycles as a result of having poor quality embryos.

While it's true that the idea of using donor eggs can be very difficult to accept, it's a treatment option which has a very high success rate! It also offers many advantages. You get to experience pregnancy; bond with your baby; and your child will have your name on its birth certificate, so that the fact that you have used donor eggs is something which no one else needs to know. It's thanks to donor egg technology that we are now seeing a spurt of celebs who are 40+ who are giving birth to twins and triplets!

We will be happy to help you find an egg donor. We have many healthy young fertile Indian women ( all of whom are less than 30 years of age , have been medically tested for their fertility ; and screened for infectious diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS ) on our egg donor panel, who have been fully evaluated.

IVF Treatment to Begin for Khloe Kardashian

Khloe Kardashian in her desperate bid to have a baby has begun to prepare for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, claim magazine reports.

Khloe has publicly spoken of her desire to start a family with basketball player Lamar Odom, yet in their two years of marriage there has been no baby joy so far for the couple.

"She is desperate for a baby with Lamar and will do whatever it takes," the Daily Mail quoted a friend of the couple as telling Us Weekly magazine.

"They have faith the IVF will work," the friend added.
Sister Kourtney's announcement last week that she was expecting her second baby with boyfriend Scott Disick, only highlighted the fact that Khloe is not yet pregnant herself.

"She's thrilled for Kourtney, but she's really sensitive," another source said.

"And it's hard to see your sister get something you want so badly," the source said.

The 32-year-old is feeling under pressure to get pregnant.

"People keep saying "Why aren't you pregnant yet?" she had said.

"That's what scares me, when people are like, "Did you go to the doctor? Do you know if everything's working?" It's nerve-racking. Sometimes I feel like I'm letting everyone down," she had said.

The Kardashian and Jenner family have also offered their support to Khloe, with little sisters Kendall and Kylie also hoping for a niece or nephew.

"They always say "You've got to have a baby. It'll be so cute and tall, and we'll babysit,

"I'm like 'You've got to get off my back,'" she said.

Even family matriarch Kris Jenner has had words of reassurance for her third daughter, despite once calling her daughters 'stingy' for not providing more grandchildren.

"Maybe she thought I was having a bad day," Khloe recalled.

"But she starts telling me that when she and Bruce first met, they were trying to have kids and it took her five years to get pregnant with Kendall.

"She was just like 'With certain people, it just takes a minute.'"

However, whenever Khloe and Lamar have children, the star won't be carrying on her mother's tradition of names beginning with 'K'.

"I definitely want some L names," she added.

About IVF Treatment

The one thing every patient needs to know about IVF treatment

IVF can be a complex process and selecting a doctor can be quite a challenge! Infertile couples are often frustrated and depressed and most will choose an IVF clinic based on a recommendation by a friend or a referral by a doctor. This is not always the best method and you can end up getting stuck in a poor quality clinic, thus reducing your chances of success. Even worse, many clinics do precious little do educate or inform their patients and patients don't know what questions to ask their doctor.

Also, IVF cycles can fail for many reasons. Sometimes the problem is poor quality eggs - but often it is a poor quality clinic!

Here's the single most important thing you should check, to be sure you are getting good quality treatment.

Insist that your clinic provide you with photos of your embryos! A good clinic will provide this routinely. This is tangible evidence that they have delivered you with a high quality service - after all, the key output of an IVF clinic is the embryos they produce.

What do bad clinics do?

- They do not provide photos of your embryos
- They fob you off with specious excuses (our camera is not working is very popular)

- They just tell you verbally that the embryos are Grade A
- They "show" you the embryos under the microscope. Unfortunately, for most patients, these just look like blobs - and patients are not sophisticated enough to differentiate between good embryos and bad embryos.

Whenever a patient comes to me for a second opinion after a failed IVF cycle , I ask them just one question - show me the photos of your embryos. This allows me to judge objectively how good or bad the IVF lab is - and bad IVF clinics have bad IVF labs!

Improve IVF Pregnancy Rates

Does CAT help to improve IVF pregnancy rates?

 

IVF patients are always on the lookout for innovations which will improve their chances of success. For example, many IVF patients ask us whether we do IMSI or CAT. These are techniques which have been aggressively promoted in the press, but do not really help the patient at all.

IVF doctors have always been frustrated by the fact that though we are quite good at growing embryos in the lab, most of these embryos do not become babies. Embryo implantation is an inefficient process, and trying to ensure that every embryo we transfer becomes a baby is the "holy grail" for all IVF specialists , which is why we use techniques such as blastocyst transfer and laser assisted hatching, to try to facilitate the implantation process .

One logical way to increase success rates is to try to improve lab quality conditions, so that in vitro conditions match in vivo conditions as closely as possible. So what are differences between growing embryos in a plastic dish in the IVF lab and in the human body?

In the body, the embryo is bathed in nutrients provided by the cells lining the fallopian tube until it reaches the uterus. In the lab, we grow embryos in plastic dishes containing culture medium, which contains a mixture of chemicals which are cleverly designed to support the growth of embryos.

In the past, in order to help embryos to grow in vitro, doctors would add the patient's serum to the culture medium. The hope was that this serum contained (unidentified) biological growth factors, which would help the embryos to grow well. However, we learned that along with growth factors, the serum also contained embryo-toxic factors, which could actually inhibit the development of the embryo, and we stopped adding serum to the culture medium. Meanwhile, as we learned more about the biochemistry of the early embryo, manufacturers tweaked the chemical composition of the culture medium (using a mix and match of amino acids), so that it because more embryo friendly, and could support the growth of embryos more efficiently.

A lot of research in the early days involved co-culture, and you can find lots of references to this if you do a Medline search for IVF co-culture. Basically, this involved culturing the embryo on a bed of "feeder cells", so that these cells could support the growth of the embryo. Ideally, the feeder cells should be the cells lining the fallopian tube, but these were very difficult to grow, which is why doctors tried using endometrial cells for co-culture; as well cumulus cells ( which were collected from the follicular fluid at the time of egg collection). Using cumulus cells for co-culture is a very simple technique and seems very appealing. This is what was christened CAT or cumulus aided transfer. Unfortunately, the success rates with CAT are no better, which is why the technique never caught on and few IVF clinics now offer this option. After all, every clinic wants to improve their success rates, and if such a simple technique worked, then everyone would use it.

So why don't we (and the vast majority of IVF clinics all over the world) offer CAT?

On closer analysis, it's quite easy to see why CAT does not help. For one thing, in real life, the cumulus cells do not nurture the embryo in vitro. After fertilisation, the cumulus cells disperse, so that the embryo is floating free in the fallopian tube and is not surrounded by cumulus cells in vivo. Also, transferring the cumulus cells along with the embryo into the uterus makes little logical sense because cumulus cells belong in the ovarian follicle - not in the uterus! In the uterus, the cumulus cells are "foreign" and are unlikely to help in embryo implantation! 

Caveat emptor - let the patient beware! More is not always better - and often established techniques are much better than newer ones!

IVF is Arrogant

Conception Via Sex in Marriage Alone is 'Acceptable', IVF is 'Arrogant': Pope

Pope Benedict XVI has asked wedded couples to shun non-natural methods of conception since sex between a husband and wife is the solely acceptable way to conceive.

He said that methods like in vitro fertilization (IVF) for getting pregnant were simply 'arrogance' as he spoke at the end of a three-day Vatican conference on infertility in Rome.

The Pope reiterated the Church's stance against artificial procreation, and told scientists and fertility experts that matrimony was the 'only place worthy of the call to existence of a new human being'.

"The human and Christian dignity of procreation, in fact, doesn't consist in a 'product', but in its link to the conjugal act, an expression of the love of the spouses of their union, not only biological but also spiritual," the Daily Mail quoted Benedict as saying.

He told the specialists in his audience to resist "the fascination of the technology of artificial fertility", warning against "easy income, or even worse, the arrogance of taking the place of the Creator".

He suggested that this was the attitude that underlies the field of artificial procreation.

Sperm or egg donation and methods such like IVF are banned for members of the Catholic Church.

The emphasis on science and "the logic of profit seem today to dominate the field of infertility and human procreation", the Pope said.

But he added that the Church encourages medical research into infertility.


Source-ANI

Blocked Tubes: What Can Be Done?

Blocked tubes can be a common condition, which can have a significant impact upon many women and couples.

Having blocked tubes makes it more difficult to become pregnant.

When the tubes are blocked then the sperm and egg can not easily meet and pregnancy will never occur. Occasionally pregnancy will occur with partially blocked tubes but the fertilized egg will become trapped in the blockage as it tries to enter the uterus. This can result in an ectopic pregnancy.

There are two common reasons women develop blocked fallopian tubes and there are several advanced surgical procedures which can correct or reverse tubal blockage and allow a woman to become pregnant again.

How Do Tubes Get Blocked?

Tubes can become intentionally blocked after a tubal ligation procedure or tubes can become unintentionally blocked because of scar tissue. 

The most common reason for tubal blockage is tubal ligation surgery.

Blocked Tubes After Surgery

When a patient request a tubal ligation procedure she is asking her doctor to intentionally block her tubes in the hopes that she will prevent future pregnancy. There are many different procedures to block fallopian tubes and once the tubes are blocked then future pregnancy will be very unlikely unless the blockage is surgically corrected. 

Often women will regret having their tubes blocked and will want to have additional children. Thankfully tubal ligation reversal allows women the ability to surgically unblock blocked fallopian tubes.

The second most common reason for having blocked tubes is having tubal scar tissue.

Blocked Tubes After Tubal Scar Tissue

Fallopian tubes can become unintentionally blocked after a woman develops scar tissue inside the fallopian tubes or around the fallopian tubes.  Scar tissue can develop and block tubes after abdominal infections,  pelvic infections (PID), endometriosis, ectopic (tubal) pregnancies, and salpingitis isthmica nodosa (SIN). 

Treatments For Blocked Fallopian Tubes

Fallopian tubes can be surgically unblocked with tubal surgery. The type of tubal surgery to unblock a tube depends on how the tubal blockage was caused and where along the tube the blockage occurs. The chance of pregnancy will be excellent for most women.

Tubal surgery can provide women with tubal blockage an alternative treatment to in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

Hydrosalpinx Prior to Doing IVF

Is there any need to remove a hydrosalpinx prior to doing IVF?

Many women with blocked tubes go in for IVF treatment. Some of them have a hydrosalpinx, in which the blocked tube is filled with fluid. It has now become standard advice to remove the hydrosalpinx or to clip the blocked tube prior to IVF. This needs to be done by performing an operative laparoscopy; and this procedure is supposed to improve IVF pregnancy rates (because the hydrosalpinx fluid is toxic and can prevent the embryos from implanting.)

Most gynecologists are happy to advise this surgery before referring the patient for IVF, because this is an additional surgical procedure for which they can charge the patient. In reality, however, this unnecessary surgery can actually end up causing harm.

For one, it leads to overtreatment. In many IVF clinics, all blocked tubes are surgically removed prior to IVF, even if the hydrosapinx is very small! This has never been proven to be of any benefit ( the original study only selected patients with a large hydrosalpinx) , but sadly patients are not well informed enough to ask questions and most are quite happy to sign on the dotted line. However, as is true of all surgical procedures, even this "minimally invasive surgery" carries a risk. This surgery can impair ovarian blood flow and reduce ovarian reserve.

In reality, there is a much easier way of ensuring that the hydrosalpinx fluid will not affect the embryos when they are being transferred. At the time of egg collection, the hydrosalpinx can be aspirated under vaginal ultrasound guidance. This means that when the embryos are being transferred into the uterus 3-5 days later, there is no toxic fluid in the hydrosalpinx to harm the embryos. This is a simple, zero-cost, non-surgical solution which ensures that the hydrosalpinx fluid will not affect embryo implantation or IVF success rates!

Gays and Single Women had Chance for Surrogacy

With the acceptance of gays and single women in the society, surrogacy aspirants have grown over a tenfold.

Cost wise, Surrogacy in India is quite encouraging, since it is highly economical in contrast with that in US. And there is no discrimination, what so ever.
No matter who you are, surrogacy process offers an ever glowing concept of enhancing your life with children. Though as gays, one cannot except to deliver a child of their own one such miracle concept of surrogacy has broken all the walls of impossibilities. Now even gays can have their own genetic child through the process of surrogacy by hiring a surrogate mother.

Earlier the concept was restricted to single women but with changing times and adaption to different cultures, surrogacy is now legally applicable to gays too. India being the prime destination for surrogacy, most of foreigners choose India for their surrogacy process. As the culture of single women is more prominent abroad, most of them in US, UK and Canada like to enjoy the state of parenthood.

Surrogacy is a process of hiring a woman’s womb for carrying a child till the full term for interested couple. In the process of surrogacy, the single women couple would closely interact with surrogate mother and the surrogacy services provider to know the whole process for their arriving for a child. Single women couple should select a Fertility Center, Sperm Donor, Select of a Surrogate and Legal Work and the Attorneys

India – a Suitable Destination of International Intended Parents

Surrogacy in India is highly advantageous, since it had become legal in India in as early as 2002.The entire process is carried out as per the guidelines, laid down by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). ICMR had prepared a draft with necessary guidelines for setting up IVF Clinics and ART Centers in India, which is being regulated by the Government of India. The Supreme Court of India had permitted surrogacy way back in 2002.

Like in any other sphere of commercial activity, India is emerging a leader in commercial surrogacy also. Today, India has not only become a preferred destination, but also raised to be the “Surrogacy Capital of the world”, since surrogacy in India is much more simple, besides being competitively cost-effective. The unprecedented momentum is because of many advantages like economical cost, better legal environment, world-class medical facilities, multi-specialty hospitals and clinics, latest technologies, skilled doctors, global accreditations etc.

International Surrogacy has become popular as the surrogacy procedures and laws are unfavorable in some countries or states. Before opting for international surrogacy, intended parents should thoroughly follow the state laws of surrogacy agencies they are choosing. Each country specifically has different laws related to surrogacy procedure. Intended parents should hire a qualified and experienced legal expert for smooth processing of cross-border surrogacy arrangements. Commercial surrogacy is gaining its acquaintance with many countries allowing it as a legal procedure but there are few countries/ states that still hold it illegal to pursue. With commercial surrogacy becoming legal in India, a huge number of surrogates are ready for the process of surrogacy. Even the number of healthcare providers or clinics providing surrogacy services has increased drastically. The clinics have a huge database of well screened surrogates who wish to take part in international surrogacy as well as local surrogacy. Intended parents are open to choose the right kind of surrogate and utilize the local surrogacy agencies.

International surrogacy involves many sensitive and ethical issues related to the surrogate mother and their origin. It is required for intended parents to respect the traditions and customs of their surrogate mother. Since Indian surrogacy agencies takes care of all important issues involved in the process of surrogacy at each stage, most of the internationals intended couples prefer India as their destination point for surrogacy. Moreover Indian surrogacy centers are well equipped with highly professional fertility experts who provide quality surrogacy services to the intended parents.

Moreover, medical council of India is handy in serving with the complete required information about the process and surrogacy centers in India. Any medical process involves risk factors, medical tourism of India helps the surrogate to acquire thorough knowledge of the process, equipments, expenses and medical process involved through their network of hospitals. Through medical council of India, intended parents can have valuable and confidential information regarding the whole process of surrogacy.

Availability of best quality surrogates and highly qualified medical professionals in India giving a 100% success rate in the process makes it even more reliable for international intended parents to choose India as their destination point for surrogacy.

Outsourcing Surrogacy to India

Why Surrogate Mothers in India – Outsourcing Surrogacy to India – How to Decide on Surrogacy in India

More Americans Now Traveling to India for Surrogate Pregnancy because it about A mum, a dad, an egg donor and a surrogate equals baby.

India is attractive for two reasons. Surrogacy comes at a reasonable price here. In the US, surrogacy costs up to $120,000; in India, couples pay only a fourth or so of that amount. Having a child could cost anything between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 25 lakh here: costs include the in vitro fertilisation, caring for the surrogate for her full term of pregnancy, the surrogate’s fee and living expenses for the intended parents. Many couples also come through medical tourism agencies or surrogacy agency that specialise in medical tourism. These agencies liaise with infertility clinics in India and organise the couple’s trip for a fee.

The second reason for India’s pull as a surrogacy destination is its laws. It is far simpler to become legal parents in India. Unlike countries such as the UK, some parts of USA, Canada and Australia, which consider surrogates legal mothers, India recognises the intended parents as the legal parents. Also, couples don’t have to fear that Indian surrogates will refuse to give up children they bear. In some states in the US, where surrogacy agreements are not legally binding, there have been cases of surrogate mothers deciding not to relinquish babies. In India, on the other hand, most surrogates are from the middle and lower classes. As they undertake surrogacy for some extra money, it is unlikely that they would stake a claim to the children they bear. All surrogates are required to sign contracts waiving any rights over the child.

As a result more and more Intended parents around the world are hiring Indian women to be surrogate mothers to their babies. , Caucasian Americans, USA, UK, Australian couples and singles, Indian NRI couple, canadian couples and singles are looking for surrogacy option in India or Surrogate Mother in India.

Miscarriage & Stillbirths

Miscarriage

A miscarriage is the spontaneous abortion of an embryo or fetus before it’s developed enough to survive. This can happen even before a woman is aware that she is pregnant. A miscarriage usually occurs in the first 3 months of pregnancy, before 12 weeks’ gestation. A small fraction of miscarriages less than 1% of them — are called stillbirths, as they occur after 20 weeks of gestation.

Miscarriage is often an upsetting event and with repeated miscarriages, a woman or a couple can find themselves on an emotional roller coaster. Almost anyone who has suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth worries about the risk of having subsequent losses. Recent information indicates that women should look into testing after two losses when it used to be common to wait until three. This is especially important for women in their 30s and 40s. Newer studies indicate a miscarriage rate of 26-40% after a woman has suffered two losses, so earlier testing makes sense emotionally, physically, and in many cases financially as well.

Symptoms of a Miscarriage?

Many women don’t even know that they’ve had a miscarriage, thinking that it’s just a particularly heavy menstrual flow.

Some women experience cramping, spotting, heavier bleeding, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, weakness, or back pain. Spotting is not always a sign of a miscarriage; many women experience it early on in pregnancy. But just to be safe, if you have spotting or any of these other symptoms anytime during your pregnancy, talk with your doctor.

Reasons for Recurrent miscarriage:

Some Reasons for Recurrent Pregnancy Loss can be genetic or Chromosome problems, Hormonal factors, Problems with the uterus, Immune system disorders or Unexplained Miscarriage. There is sometimes more than one reason for recurrent pregnancy loss so investigations need to be complete.

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The loss of pregnancy can result in feelings of grief. For many, the emotional healing that follows a pregnancy loss takes longer than the physical healing. Your feelings of grief may be different from those of your partner and the healing process may progress at a different speed.

Stillbirths

A stillbirth, which many experts define as the death of a baby after the 20th week of pregnancy, can occur before delivery or during labor or delivery. It is rare and occurs in less than 1% of all births. A stillbirth also is sometimes referred to as intrauterine fetal death or antenatal death.

While there are some known risk factors for stillbirth (such as smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes), there is no way to predict when stillbirth will happen or who will have one, and the cause of many stillbirths remains unknown.

The first and most common sign of a stillbirth is decreased movement in the baby. Other possible signs include persistent cramping or stabbing pains in the pelvis, back, or lower abdomen, or vaginal bleeding. If you experience any of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately.

Your doctor can use an ultrasound to detect the heartbeat or give you an electronic fetal non-stress test, which involves lying on your back with electronic monitors attached to your abdomen. The monitors record the baby’s heart rate, movements, and contractions of the uterus.

Stillbirth is common. It may affect anyone. There is no way to predict when stillbirth will happen or who will experience it. Stillbirth occurs in families of all races, religions, and income levels.

Always remember that the Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, Recurrent miscarriage or Stillbirths can be cured like any other disease and it does not mean that you cannot have family. If you have been through or experiencing Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, Recurrent miscarriage or Stillbirths, come share your experiences with us.

INTENDED PARENTS

INTENDED PARENTS- Your Partner for Parenthood

Intended Parents are the infertile couples who intend to have a child through the process of surrogacy. Planning a child through the surrogacy procedure is practically a full time job and it needs expert advice and assistance at every facet of journey. International Fertility Centre is a dedicated surrogacy (medical and legal) services provider that can help and assist the intended parents throughout the journey of surrogacy.

Surrogacy or Egg donation is the best solution for infertility and other relative problems. Intended parents who wish to have a child through the process of the surrogacy need to assist professional services. It is highly essential to find professional who can help and guide you in finding the right surrogate who is capable of bearing a child for you.

International Fertily Centre has a wide database of surrogates who can actively acts as surrogate mother for the intended couple. Our professional team screens surrogates through various dimensions and offer the right and suitable surrogate for the intended couple. It is very important for the Intended couple to select the right surrogate based on the review of complete medical records, checking family history, and social/criminal background and education level. It is also necessary to get a perfect psychological evaluation of the surrogate before selecting for surrogacy or Egg donation. International Fertility Centre has the expert team of professionals who can do all this for you.
Intended parents have to carefully scrutiny all the information shared by surrogates before they determine to select her for the process of surrogacy or egg donation.
 

Infertility and Obesity

Relationship Between Obesity and Female Infertility

Obesity and Infertility have been linked together by several studies. But what is the precise relationship between obesity and female infertility? And why do women who are obese have a greater risk of fertility and other pregnancy-related problems?

A person is defined as being obese if thirty per cent of her body weight is made up of fat tissue.

Obesity is linked to several health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and infertility.

But how does obesity cause infertility? Dose Obesity Raises Risk of Miscarriage?

Obesity and Female Infertility, Risk of Miscarriage

Obesity results in an increased production of estrogen; this hormonal imbalance in turn interferes with ovulation, which of course, is the basis of successful conception.

Obesity and women’s fertility are strongly related, as any woman with PCOS could tell you. New study from the UK, suggest a linkage between women’s body weight their ability to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term:

Overweight women undergoing fertility treatment have double the risk of miscarriage of normal weight women, a UK study says.

Obesity poses a greater risk to both maternal and fetal health during pregnancy. Studies show that obesity is associated with adverse consequences like malformation, still birth, gestational diabetes, and the need for a cesarean delivery. Multiple studies show that pregnant women who are overweight and given to greater change in body weight during the first trimester of pregnancy are more likely to have lengthier and more complicated deliveries.

More than a third of overweight and obese women had a miscarriage compared with one in five of normal weight women.

Evidence supports a casual relationship between obesity and adverse pregnancy outcome. It is a warning for women to drop weight to the standard recommended level. By doing so, they can avoid miscarriage, both sporadic as well as recurrent.

There are many options available in treating obesity

Treating Obesity

Women who have had a miscarriage earlier are at a greater risk of having one again, if they are obese. Women who are overweight should be counseled regarding the benefits of weight loss. They should lose weight before embarking on a pregnancy, to minimize risk of a miscarriage. This should be done under the guidance of a doctor or nutritionist. Women with BMI of over 35 have more than double the risk of a miscarriage.

Previous research has shown that women who conceive naturally are also at a higher risk if they are overweight. Obesity is a known risk factor for ovulation problems, but it also contributes to infertility in women who ovulate normally.

There are many options available in treating obesity, such as:

1. Altering your diet. Avoid foods that are high in saturated or trans fats or that are high in sugar. Enrich your diet with whole grains, vegetables, fruits and lean sources of protein.

2. Exercise regularly. Even moderate forms of exercise, such as walking or low-impact aerobics, can lead to healthy weight loss.

3. Gastric bypass surgery. Many people who are obese turn to surgery in order to reduce their appetites.

Always consult your physician on any of the above obesity treatments.

The issue of obesity and reproduction is complex, and fertility specialist is only beginning to understand it.

If you are above 35 and you have been through or experiencing infertility and Obesity, come share your experiences with us. For more information on being obese or overweight and how it affects your pregnancy, Contact US.