Srinagar, Dec 08: Female infertility is a complex issue affecting many women worldwide. Various factors, such as age, hormonal imbalances, and reproductive health disorders, can contribute to challenges in conceiving.
Infertility carries a pervasive societal stigma, particularly impacting women. As per doctors silence around this issue fosters feelings of isolation and inadequacy.
Dr. Rifat Ara, retired Professor and former Head Postgraduate Department of Gynaecology & Obstetrics, SKIMS Medical College, Bemina said infertility affects millions of people of reproductive age worldwide.
“Addressing infertility is an important part of realizing an individual or couple’s right to have a family. Addressing infertility can also mitigate gender inequality, although both men and women experience infertility. Women are often perceived to suffer from infertility, regardless of whether they are infertile or not,” she said.
She said infertility has significant negative social impacts on the lives of infertile couples, particularly women, who frequently experience violence, divorce, social stigma, emotional stress, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
Dr Rifat said junk-foods lead to obesity, PCOS, diabetes, metabolic syndromes which can lead to sub fertility and infertility. “Ideally, junk food should be avoided not only for this reason only but also for overall good health,” she said.
She also said there is a huge misconception in the society that if a couple is infertile, it is attributed solely to the woman.
“Even the husband sometimes accuses the woman of the same. It is a moral responsibility of each one of us to change this mentality and remove all the social taboos related to this,” she said.
“If the couple is infertile they can opt for treatment, and various assisted reproductive techniques. If everything fails, they still have an option of adoption. However, demeaning the woman and putting her under so much stress only worsens the situation further,” she added.
While talking about the cases in which women are unable to conceive their baby and its reason Dr Rukhsana Sami, Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, LD Hospital Srinagar said infertile women face social and self-stigma which threatens their psychosocial wellbeing and self-esteem.
“To overcome this, education and social support is important. Women should be free to decide if she want to conceive or not. She shouldn’t be judged for her decision,” she said.
She said to overcome this women must seek emotional support from family and friends and spend quality time with them. “She should make herself stress free by exploring her passion and interests, taking vacations and travelling,” the gynaecologist said.
Dr Rukhsana said women face more and more vomiting during the first months of pregnancy because of an increase in hormone called BHCG and progesterone which causes decreased gastric motility.
“Other factors like dietary deficiency including deficiency of vitamin B1, B6 and low protein diet and low carbohydrate reserve are also responsible,” she said. She suggested that menstrual hygiene management should be taken care of.
The doctor said preconception counselling is important before getting pregnant more importantly for high risk group and further investigations accordingly
“Blood group is important for pregnant women specifically if mother is from RH negative group and father from RH positive and meanwhile she is carrying a RH positive fetus in her womb,” the doctor said.
“Woman in our setup are not much aware about personal hygiene and prevention of Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Only 18-20 percent must have education regarding this. So we should have debates and discussions regarding the same and awareness programs should be organized for this,” she said.
Dr Amir Iqbal Lone, Gynaecologist, J&K Health Department said getting the appropriate amount of folate is very important as the Folate, a B vitamin also known as folic acid, may help prevent birth defects.
“Before pregnancy, you need 400 mcg per day from supplements or fortified foods, in addition to the folate you get naturally from foods and beverages. During pregnancy, you need 600 mcg,” he said.
“While breastfeeding, you need 500 mcg of folate per day. Foods high in folate include orange juice, strawberries, spinach, broccoli, beans, fortified breads, and fortified low-sugar breakfast cereals. These foods may even provide 100% of the daily value of folic acid per serving,” Dr Amir said.
He said that most health care professionals tell women who are pregnant to take a prenatal vitamin every day and consume healthy foods, snacks, and beverages. “Ask your doctor about what you should take,” he said.
Dr Tasaduk Hussain Itoo, physician and educator said the probability of conception decreases with age. He said female fertility begins to decline many years before the start of menopause and becomes more pronounced after age of 37 adding that the risk of miscarriage also increases with advancing female age.
Dr Itoo said possible signs of fertility problems include irregular cycles, especially if longer than 35 days or shorter than 24 days, severe pain with your periods, ongoing pelvic pain, or severe pain with intercourse and history of pelvic inflammatory disease, chlamydia, or gonorrhea infections in the past.
“If you have any of the problems mentioned above and have also been unsuccessful in conceiving despite regular intercourse in the past six months, you should consult a doctor have a basic infertility evaluation,” he said.
“Before women see your healthcare practitioner, it can be helpful to chart your cycles for three to six months. It is important to note the date your period begins as well as its length. If possible, don’t delay childbearing into your late 30s because pregnancy rates decline with age,” Dr Itoo said.
Women should adopt a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and exercise and decrease stress as much as possible.
“Obesity can lower chances of conception and can bring additional risks in pregnancy. So women should strive for a healthy weight. Limit caffeine intake because excessive caffeine intake may increase the risk of miscarriages. Avoid alcohol intake and cigarette smoking. Protect yourself against sexually transmitted infections,” he added.
