Infertility in women- What are the Likely Problems? (Day 1)

What are the causes of infertility in women?

We’ve been talking about male factor infertility for a while, I hope you can still remember the definition of infertility.
Now we want to shift our attention to things that can cause infertility in a woman.

Like we did in the case of the male, we can divide causes of #female infertility into the following:
1 issues that affect the #cervix
2. issues that affect the ovaries.
3. issues that affect the  womb.
4. issues that affect the tubes
5. other issues .
You can see that a myriad of conditions can lead to female infertility and it is not a one size fits all issue.

Cervical causes of Female infertility

Let’s look at issues that affect the cervix that can lead to female infertility.
As you know the cervix is essentially the organ that opens into the womb.

The sperm will need to travel through it to fertilise an egg.

If for some reason the cervical opening is narrowed e.g. through infection, trauma or surgery the sperm may not be able to pass.

Another reason is if the mucus in the cervix is hostile to the sperm, this means the sperm will not be able to pass through as the mucus may be too thick or dry.

Hormonal problems or drugs cause this.
See a doctor if you seem to be otherwise okay but unable to get pregnant

Ovarian causes of female infertility

The ovaries are the organs that produce the eggs. Some conditions may affect the ovaries and lead to infertility.
One very important condition is called #Polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Here multiple cysts (which are collections of fluid) surround the ovary, this can lead to irregular and fewer menses.

A woman with this condition may be obese and have some masculine features like beard on her chin or chest.

Some women also fail to ovulate, this may be caused by abnormal hormone release from the brain and conditions like stress and weight loss.

Uterine causes of female infertility

Let’s move to issues with the uterus (womb) that may lead to infertility.
Any malformation of the uterus can affect the menses, can cause infertility and can even lead to loss of a pregnancy.

These disorders may be from birth e.g. some women born without a uterus.  Others acquire it.
Another situation is where there are scars in the uterus this may have been caused by dilatation and curettage (D and C) as it is popularly known. This may affect menstruation and lead to infertility.
In some cases #fibroids may cause infertility due to their location in the uterus.

Tubal causes of female infertility

Lets talk about tubal causes of female infertility.
As you know the fallopian tubes transport the egg produced by the ovary to the uterus where it may meet a sperm, therefore any thing that causes problems with the tubes can affect fertility.
This includes conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease which we’ve already talked about. You may want to go back to read it up.

Sexually transmitted infections especially chlamydia may lead to this, gonorrhoea may also be responsible.
A previous ectopic pregnancy (e.g. that occurs in the tubes) may also lead to infertility.

Do you suspect any of the above may be a cause of your infertility?
Why not see a doctor today.

Join me tomorrow for more.

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Join me tomorrow as we discuss problems with the ovaries that can lead to infertility.
Stay Healthy!