What is infertility among women?

The disorder known as infertility affects or limits one’s capacity to become pregnant and give birth to a child. After a year of attempting to get pregnant, this is typically diagnosed in heterosexual couples (a man and a woman) (but may be diagnosed sooner depending on other factors). For heterosexual couples, one third of infertility causes are attributable to male issues, one third to female issues, and one third to a combination of factors or unidentified causes. Female infertility, often known as “female factor” infertility, is the term used when the female partner is proven to be the cause of the infertility.

How frequent is infertility in women?

A prevalent illness is infertility. One form of infertility affects at least 10% of women. As a woman gets older, her odds of becoming infertile rise.

Symptoms

The inability to become pregnant is the most common symptom of infertility. A menstrual cycle that is either too long (35 days or more), too short (less than 21 days), irregular, or absent may indicate that you are not ovulating. There may be no other indications or symptoms.

When should you see a doctor?

When you should seek help depends on your age:

• Most doctors recommend waiting at least a year before testing or treatment for women under the age of 35.
• If you’re between the ages of 35 and 40, talk to your doctor after six months of trying. 
• Your doctor could prescribe testing or therapy immediately away if you are over 40.

If you or your spouse has a history of known fertility issues, irregular or painful periods, pelvic inflammatory disease, recurrent miscarriages, cancer treatment, or endometriosis, your doctor may want to start testing or treatment right away.

Risk elements

You may be more susceptible to infertility as a result of some causes, such as:

Age. With time, a woman’s eggs lose both quality and number. The rate of follicle loss accelerates towards the middle of the 30s, producing fewer eggs of lower quality. This increases the chance of miscarriage and makes fertilisation more challenging.

Smoking. Smoking raises your risk of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy in addition to harming your cervix and fallopian tubes. Additionally, it’s known to prematurely age your ovaries and diminish your egg supply. Prior to starting fertility therapy, stop smoking.

Weight. Ovulation may be impacted by being significantly overweight or underweight. The risk of pregnancy and the frequency of ovulation may both rise with a healthy body mass index (BMI).

Sexual background. The fallopian tubes can suffer damage from STIs such chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Your risk of contracting an STD that could later affect your fertility increases if you engage in unprotected intercourse with numerous partners.

Alcohol. Overindulgence in alcohol can lower fertility.

Prevention

These advice might be helpful for ladies who are contemplating pregnancy now or in the future:

Keep a healthy weight. Ovulation abnormalities are more likely to affect overweight and underweight women. Exercise moderately if you need to lose weight. Exercise that is difficult and intense for more than five hours per week has been linked to a reduction in ovulation.

Give up smoking. Tobacco use has a number of detrimental impacts on fertility as well as overall health and foetal health. Considering becoming pregnant while smoking. 

Avoid drinking alcohol. Heavy drinking may lead to decreased fertility. Any alcohol consumption can affect the health of the developing foetus. Avoid alcohol if you are planning to become pregnant and do not drink alcohol during pregnancy. Relieve pressure. Some research suggests that stress can cause couples to be less effective in infertility treatment. Try to reduce stress in your life before trying to conceive.