Why is it harder for overweight women to get pregnant

Why is it harder for overweight women to get pregnant

Infertility is literally on the plate. Weight increases, along with it – the risk of various diseases, but conception is becoming more and more difficult.

There are more and more stories that girls have to lose a lot of weight in order to get pregnant. In an attempt to become a mother, they lose 20, 30, even 70 kilos. Often, such girls also suffer from PCOS – polycystic ovary syndrome, which makes conception even more difficult, and even complicates the matter of losing weight. And doctors say: yes, it is really more difficult for overweight women to get pregnant. Food affects our body much more than many people think.

obstetrician-gynecologist, fertility specialist at the REMEDI clinic

“In our time, the number of women with increased body mass index – BMI has increased, especially among young people. This is due to the peculiarities of eating behavior and lifestyle. Overweight women are more susceptible to health complications: cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, diabetes mellitus. The negative effect of excess weight on reproductive function has also been proven. “

Vicious circle

According to the doctor, obese women develop endocrine infertility. This is manifested by rare ovulations or their complete absence – anovulation. In addition, very often overweight women have menstrual irregularities.

“This is due to the fact that adipose tissue is involved in the regulation of sex hormones in the body. In obese women, there is a significant decrease in globulin that binds male sex hormones – androgens. This leads to an increase in free fractions of androgens in the blood, and as a result, excess androgens in adipose tissue are converted into estrogens – female sex hormones, ”explains the doctor.

Estrogens, in turn, stimulate the formation of luteinizing hormone (LH) in the pituitary gland. This hormone is responsible for regulating ovulation and the menstrual cycle. When LH levels rise, an imbalance in hormones develops, which leads to menstrual irregularities, follicular maturation, and ovulation. It is very difficult to get pregnant in this case. Moreover, the stress due to ineffectual attempts to conceive, girls often begin to seize – and the circle closes.

“Overweight women often develop impaired carbohydrate metabolism, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance,” adds Anna Kutasova.

Losing weight instead of treatment

To understand if women are overweight, you need to calculate your body mass index. To do this, you need to weigh yourself and measure your height.

Women are recommended to measure height and weight with the calculation of BMI according to the formula: BMI (kg / m2) = body weight in kilograms / height in meters squared – to identify overweight or obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 25 – overweight, BMI greater than or equal to 30 – obesity).

Example:

Weight: 75 kg

Height: 168 see

BMI = 75 / (1,68 * 1,68) = 26,57 (overweight)

According to the WHO, the risk of reproductive health problems directly depends on the degree of overweight / obesity:

  • overweight (25–29,9) – increased risk;

  • first degree obesity (30–34,9) – high risk;

  • obesity of the second degree (34,9–39,9) – very high risk;

  • obesity of the third degree (more than 40) is an extremely high degree of risk.

Infertility treatment, IVF – all this may not work. And again because of the weight.

“It has been proven that being overweight is a risk factor that reduces the effectiveness of fertility treatments using assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Therefore, during pregnancy planning, women need to be examined, ”explains our expert.

And if you lose weight? It turns out that losing weight by even 5% increases the likelihood of ovulatory cycles. That is, the likelihood that a woman will be able to conceive herself, without medical intervention, is already increasing. In addition, if the expectant mother is not overweight, the risks of complications during pregnancy are greatly reduced.

By the way

A common argument in favor of excess weight among mothers is that their children are born larger. But that’s not always good. After all, obesity can develop in a child, and this is already nothing good. In addition, giving birth to a large baby is more difficult.

But much more often than the birth of large children, preterm births occur in obese mothers. Babies are born prematurely, with low weight, they have to be nursed in intensive care. And this is also not good.  

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