Globally, around 6%-15% of women during their reproductive age have polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS. It is a hormonal disorder which leads to excess formation of male hormones in the female body. This hormonal condition leads to irregularities in the menstrual cycle and affects ovulation, making pregnancy in PCOS quite complicated. Although it is true that women with PCOS take longer to conceive, they can still become happy moms. So, if you are planning to welcome a child into your life, the following blog will be a useful guide for you. Scroll down to learn about the best age to get pregnant with PCOS, and how to maximise the chances of conceiving and sustaining pregnancy with PCOS.
How Does PCOS Affect Fertility?
During a normal menstrual cycle, one of the follicles develops in your ovaries and then ruptures to discharge an egg into one of your fallopian tubes every month. It happens in the middle of your cycle. For example, if you have a 28-day cycle, you have a high chance of conceiving between the 13th and the 15th day. However, in PCOS, the follicles do not grow and release eggs every month, causing irregular ovulation and menses. Irregular menses can make it difficult to track the fertility window. Even though conception happens, another hurdle that women face with pregnancy in PCOS is a miscarriage, with 30%-50% of women experiencing an early pregnancy loss in the first trimester — all because of the fluctuating hormones.
| Did You Know?
PCOS is not 100% curable, but its symptoms can be managed with proper diet, lifestyle and certain medications, making it possible to conceive. |
How to Get Pregnant with PCOS Quickly?
Women can get pregnant as long as they ovulate, which usually happens between the ages of early 20s and 50s. PCOS pregnancy success rate is the highest when women are under 30 years of age and starts to decline after that. This is because the hormonal imbalances of PCOS sometimes also lead to other hormonal issues such as insulin resistance, hypothyroidism, etc., further affecting body organs and weakening reproductive health. Due to these reasons, the best age to get pregnant with PCOS is believed to be the late 20s to the mid-30s. Some studies show that you can still have pregnancy in PCOS after 30 and up to 41. So, the answer to “how to get pregnant with PCOS quickly naturally?”, is to manage one’s health parameters and keep trying. Here are a few ways to increase the PCOS pregnancy success rate:
Correct Your Insulin Sensitivity Through Diet
Insulin resistance is common in women with PCOS. It negatively impacts foetal health during pregnancy in PCOS. Insulin resistance is linked with an increased risk of preterm labour and foetal complications such as foetal macrosomia. You can reduce insulin resistance by doing physical exercises, taking a healthy diet, and maintaining an ideal BMI. Studies show that reducing body fat and taking post-meal walks significantly improve insulin sensitivity.
Manage Weight
The increased risk of miscarriage during the first trimester is related to obesity in women with PCOS. Losing weight can be one of the strategies to improve hormonal health and thus boost the chances of pregnancy in PCOS. You can follow a diet that is low in sugar, like fresh vegetables and fruits, and cut down on sugar-coated and highly processed foods to achieve a healthy weight range.
Manage Hypothyroidism with Diet
Hypothyroidism can affect one’s metabolic rate and lead to abnormal weight gain or obesity. Even mild thyroid dysfunction, common in PCOS, might impact the cognitive development of the foetus and even cause recurrent miscarriages in PCOS. These are the different types of food that one should avoid having with hypothyroidism, such as soy products, high carbs, and too many fibrous foods. Due to delayed periods, women with PCOS only have a very short window of fertility per year in comparison to other women. So, they need to make use of each cycle. The chances of pregnancy with PCOS can be increased when the above diet and lifestyle changes are done in combination with the medical treatments discussed in the next section.
Pregnancy Treatment for PCOS
Although there is no permanent cure for PCOS, you can manage some of its symptoms to improve your reproductive health. Here are some of the options for pregnancy treatment for PCOS:
- Metformin: It is used to make your periods more regular. It can also correct insulin resistance, which you may have alongside PCOS, and can reduce the risk of miscarriage.
- Gonadotrophins: This is another medicine that can help you to ovulate. Gonadotrophins sometimes cause more than one egg to develop in the ovaries, which increases your chance of having twins or more.
- Surgery: Surgery such as laparoscopic ovarian drilling can be used to gently destroy tissue on the ovaries, which makes too much testosterone. This can help manage hormonal irregularities in women.
- In Vitro Fertilisation: This procedure involves taking one of your eggs, fertilising it outside the womb, and placing it back into the uterus. It is one of the most common options chosen by women for pregnancy in PCOS.
NOTE: Any of the above medications/ medicine/ method suggestions, can only be taken once you get consulted by your gynaecologist/ expert.
Symptoms of Pregnancy with PCOS
Since PCOS can delay periods, missed periods can’t help predict pregnancy. In the case of PCOS pregnancy, you may notice the following symptoms:
If you notice these symptoms of pregnancy with PCOS, you can use a home pregnancy testing kit. However, these kits sometimes give false negatives when tested too early in pregnancy. So, if you feel like you might be pregnant, consult a doctor immediately for further confirmation tests.
Key Takeaways
Pregnancy with PCOS can be a little complicated due to all the hormonal ups and downs caused by the excessive amount of male hormones in the female body. Although the best age to get pregnant with PCOS to get pregnant is between the late 20s and the mid-30s, women can still hope to become mothers until 41. While PCOS can not be cured, its symptoms can be managed with corrective diet and lifestyle strategies and can help improve reproductive health. Various medicines and clinical procedures such as IVF and ovarian drilling are effective in helping with pregnancy in PCOS.
