If you don’t look after your cervix, infertility might be waiting for you

Posted by Administrator on February 28, 2010

You probably learnt this in grade school, but just to refresh your memory, the cervix is the gap at the bottom end of the uterus, where it meets the top end of the vagina. A healthy cervix is vital when it comes to getting and staying pregnant and delivering your baby. If there is any blockage or narrowing or any other problems the spermies might have a hard time getting past to get to the egg. You have two fallopian tubes and two ovaries, so if one is damaged you at least have the other one, but when it comes to the cervix there is only one – so best you look after it!

Some things that can go wrong at the cervix are:

· Even though you may want a baby, your cervical mucus may be unwelcomong to sperm. Normally, when you ovulate your cervical mucus (normally found at the vaginal opening) is kind of like egg white – clear, watery and stretchy. You may have problems with either the amount or the quality of cervical mucus which will make the sperms’ (rather short) life quite challenging. The cervical mucus could also have anti-sperm antibodies, which damage or kill the poor chaps on their way to the egg. Just a minor factoid while we’re on the topic, part of how hormonal contraceptives function is by making the cervical mucus thick to prevent the sperm from getting through.

· Cervical stenosis is a narrowing of the cervix which may also influence your fertility negatively. This can happen because of scarring from surgery or infection, or simply because you were born that way.

· Cervicitis is another problem concerning the cervix that could cause infertility. Basically, the word merely means that the cervix is inflamed or swollen and this will affect your fertility and your ability to carry your pregnancy for the full 40 weeks or to deliver your baby the usual way.

Looking after your cervix:

· Despite the fact that we abhor them, regular pap smears are necessary to catch cervical cancer early so that minimal treatment is required. You need to have a pap smear no less than once every two years from 18 years of age – more frequently if you are particularly at risk. Avoid cervical cancer and you’ll avoid surgical intervention too, which means that you’ll also avoid potential injury to the structure and function of the cervix. Having many sexual partners or being sexually active before 18 years of age increases your risk of cervical cancer. No, that’s not a story they invented to scare high schoolers, it’s a fact, so warn your daughters.

· Be careful, don’t have an abortion, as every time someone sticks a sharp instrument up there your chance of scarring increases. Injury to the cervix can narrow it so that it’s difficult for sperm to get through, or it may prevent the cervix from functioning correctly leading to something called an ‘incompetent cervix’ which increases your risk of complications and even miscarriage.

· Be responsible with your sex life and avoid cervicitis. You don’t want to mess with STDs! I know I said it before, but here you have it again: foreign objects up the vagina, many sexual partners, being sexually active before 18 years of age, and other high risk behaviors can all result in cervicitis and cervicitis can increase your chance of chronic pain, cervical cancer, infertility and pregnancy complications. Encourage your friends to be responsible with their sexuality as well.

If you’ve had problems with your cervix, infertility could be on the cards for you. Although prevention is better than cure, if you do have problems, don’t despair, you do have alternatives.

Here is more information on Endometriosis and Infertility. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Infertility.

Links between smoking and infertility

Posted by Administrator on February 28, 2010

There are no debates on this issue – smoking and infertility are very directly connected. I know you’re thinking how on earth you’ll give up your daily (hourly?) fix but once you hear the facts you may be able to make up your mind for good.

Did you know that all other things being the same, smokers generally take more time to get pregnant than non-smokers? I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that kissing a smoker bears a big resemblance to sucking on an ashtray, and sex drive is also influenced by smoking, both of which will cut your chances of conceiving. Your chances of getting pregnant at any given time are apparently 40% lower than someone who has never smoked, according to the BMA (British Medical Association). The BMA also assert that 120 000 cases of male impotence and 5000 miscarriages per year are caused by smoking. Smokers claim that smoking relieves stress – but from those statistics, it seems as though smoking brings about more stress than it relieves!

That does not mean that smoking can be exploited as supplementary contraception! When you hear the effect that smoking can have on your unborn child if (when) you do get pregnant, hopefully you’ll rethink that idea. Is the increased risk of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, abnormalities like cleft lip or palate really worth it? Your baby is also more liable to be born premature and underweight – certainly not ideal – and your baby is more prone to have respiratory problems such as asthma later on. Furthermore, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is more frequent in households where a family member smokes. Not only will you be disadvantaging your child, but you’ll be giving yourself masses of extra stress and extra expense that you could have prevented.

It seems that it’s the woman’s eggs that are influenced by smoking, but the ovaries can also be harmed. Having the optimum estrogen levels is also essential for your fertility and smoking can affect your body’s making of estrogen. If the guy smokes then fertility is also affected, although , as with the ladies, scientists are not sure how. Sperm can be scarse and those that are there can be malformed if you smoke. Although there is not as much evidence to connect smoking and male infertility, if you think you’re let off, think again. Passive smoking is just about as harmful as active smoking for a woman’s fertility.

Smoking will definitely not improve your position if you already battle with infertility. Smokers who plan to conceive by means of IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) need almost twice as many treatments than non-smokers. At over $12 000 a time, that’s a very expensive habit! Female smokers also require higher doses of fertility drugs and the medication is still not as effective as they would be in a non-smoker.

Clearly, not all smokers are alike and your fertility will be affected by the numbers of cigarettes you smoke and the amount of time you’ve smoked for. If you quit then within a year your fertility is just about on the same level as someone who has never smoked, although some ovary damage could be irreversible. You can’t dispute with these links between smoking and infertility. Quit smoking, save great sums of money and enhance your odds of getting pregnant and having a healthy child who still has a healthy parent around when he or she has their own children.

Here is more information on Reasons for Infertility. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Infertility.