Dr. Priya Alvarez is the first Gynaecologist and Obstetrition in India to have managed an antenatal case of spontaneous conception quintuplets. She is an expert in the Mira Road, Mumbai area on managing the delivery of multiple live babies in the same pregnancy. Infertility treatments often result in multiple babies in the same pregnancy.
According to Dr. Priya, the best years to conceive a child are between 22 and 29. Some women even after their marriage do not conceive. This is due to their lifestyle, stress-related problems or they may have some problem with their reproductive system or hormonal imbalance, says Dr. Priya. The problems their reproductive system can have are fibroids in the uterus, poor lining of uterus, polycystic ovary and ovarian cysts. Even thyroid problems can prevent a woman from getting pregnant. She explains, “Further, there are 2 types of infertility-Primary and secondary. Primary infertility is when a woman is not able to conceive any pregnancy at all. She is trying but is not able to conceive. In secondary infertility, a woman has conceived before but can’t do it again. It could be that she may have a child or even had a miscarriage or an abortion. Once she has proved that she can get pregnant. After that she is not able to conceive.”
Long term use of contraceptives can also hamper fertility. If the pill is taken over several years, it can hamper pregnancy. Dr. Priya insists, “But if it is taken for 2-3 months, it may even help to make the patient pregnant.”
However, though Copper-T prevents pregnancy, if used long-term and if it gets infected it can prevent pregnancy completely. It can even cause ectopic pregnancy, where the fertilized ovum remains embedded in the fallopian tube and does not go to the uterus.
Infertility is treated after doing a thorough check-up of both the partners. The different diagnostic modalities for infertility are blood tests, hormonal tests, follicular sonography and tubal testing. Tubal testing is to rule out any blockage in the fallopian tube.
Many people do not marry at the right age. With the advancement of age, there are many consequences of late motherhood. They are medical problems like blood pressure, diabetes and increased chances of abnormalities in the children. The abnormalities are like Down’s Syndrome and handicap. There are more chances of mental retardation or Down’s Syndrome, if the age of the mother is 35-40 years of age. Any hereditary chromosomal defects in the family also follow you.
These chromosomal defects can be detected with the help of Chorionic Villus Sampling, Amniocentesis and double marker and triple marker blood tests. Such a fetus with chromosomal defects can very well be aborted. Where laws disallow the termination of pregnancy of a female fetus, there are no such laws that prohibit the abortion of a fetus with chromosomal defects.
The bottom line is infertility and consequences of late motherhood can only be prevented by marrying at the right age and try to conceive during the right age.
This article was first published in Eve’s Times magazine and has been reproduced here with the written permission from the editor, Swati Amar.