Uterine Infertility
You probably didn’t ever give much attention to your uterus until the day you chose to get going on trying for a baby. But uterine infertility is not uncommon as a healthy normal uterus is very important for getting and staying pregnant. There a couple of factors that could cause uterine infertility:
· Fibroids – These are small benign lumps that grow on the endometrium. If these form near the fallopian tube or cervix openings, or they are quite large, or numerous, they may make it difficult for the sperm and the egg to get together.
· Polyps – Ever notices a skin tag? Well, an endometrial or uterine polyp is similar to a little skin tag on the inner wall of the uterus. Most of the time you wouldn’t even know if you had them, but if you have abnormal bleeding that may be a sign of polyps. Similar to fibroids, polyps can block the cervix or fallopian tube openings making it difficult for the sperm and the egg to get together.
· Uterine deformities – Your chances of having a baby may be negatively affected if your uterus is an irregular shape.
· Scar tissue – on the inside of the uterus is also referred to as Asherman’s Syndrome. Like fibroids and polyps this scar tissue can cause infertility or miscarriage. The scar tissue can be a product of infection or as a result of repeated abortions or previous surgery.
· Endometriosis – This raises your chance of ectopic pregnancy (when the zygote starts developing outside the womb) because cells that are generally only found on the interior of the uterus start forming outside as well. This also causes terrible cramping and very heavy bleeding during menstruation.
· Muscular problems – At the time of ovulation the uterus contracts to suck the sperm up into the fallopian tubes. Abnormalities with these contractions might make life quite difficult for the sperm.
· Luteal phase defect – The name looks rather menacing, but this just suggests that the lining of the uterus doesn’t form properly.
· Abnormal endometrial lining – This is when the endometrium is too thin or too thick, although accurate definitions of too thin or too thick are rather relative.
The following tests might be done to screen for uterine infertility:
· Sonohysterogram – Once the uterus has been injected with a saline solution an ultrasound scan is done to check for any structural abnormalities.
· Hysterosalpingogram – A solution that comes up on X-ray is squirted into the uterine cavity and then an X-ray is taken to check if there are any odd growths or obstructions.
· Laparoscopy – A tiny camera is inserted through a small incision in the abdomen to have a look around.
· Hysteroscopy – The camera is inserted through the vagina rather than through an incision in the abdomen.
Doctors could also use the procedures listed previously as opportunities to take tissue samples for screening.
That seems like a lot of things that might go wrong, but a large number of women have these problems and don’t battle to have a baby at all. It’s good to know that even though the testing process may be somewhat uncomfortable, most of these conditions are easily treated.
Here is more information on Endometriosis and Infertility. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Infertility.
Tags: endometriosis and infertility, uterine infertility
This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 7:21 pm and is filed under loose pregnancy weight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.