For women living with PCOS, pregnancy is a fraught topic, but it doesn’t have to be.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (shortened to PCOS) is a condition where the ovaries produce more androgens than normal for the average woman.
Androgens are the male sex hormones. It’s no surprise that many women wonder whether getting pregnant with PCOS is even possible. While it is harder for those with PCOS to get pregnant, it’s still possible. Women with PCOS also have a higher risk of miscarriage, but don’t let that discourage you from getting excited about starting your family.
In this article, you’ll learn the basics of PCOS and pregnancy, including potential risks and how to mitigate them. This way, you can start your family in the healthiest way possible.
Getting Pregnant With PCOS
While getting pregnant with PCOS isn’t impossible, it’s a little more difficult. A Swedish study found that 13.7% of women with PCOS needed the help of assisted reproductive technology to get pregnant.
These fertility treatments can be difficult and expensive, but naturopathic doctors believe it’s possible to get pregnant naturally, even with PCOS. For best results, it’s important to let your doctor know when you want to get pregnant, so they can offer you the best level of support.
Getting pregnant with PCOS often requires a multi-pronged approach of improving your overall health. It involves everything from diet and exercise, getting enough sleep, to potentially taking supplements.
Additionally, through a range of specialty tests and close period tracking, it’s possible to learn more about when you are most likely to get pregnant, despite the way PCOS may impact your cycle.
PCOS Risks During Pregnancy for Mom and Baby
People with PCOS are at a higher risk of experiencing the following complications during pregnancy:
- Preeclampsia
- Hypertension
- Gestational diabetes
- Miscarriage
- Abnormally large gestational size
- Premature delivery
- Overall lower apgar score
This is all in addition to the common symptoms of PCOS outside of pregnancy.
While it’s easy to list risks and symptoms, it’s important to remember that each woman with PCOS is an individual in unique circumstances. Lists of symptoms can flatten the PCOS diagnosis, and fail to take into account how other lifestyle factors influence it.
A large part of the reason why these risks are so common is because, all too often, PCOS goes unmanaged. By treating PCOS holistically and early on, it’s possible to reduce these risks.
PCOS and Early Parenthood
The next question that often comes up is how PCOS may impact your baby and whether you’ll be able to breastfeed.
If you have a female baby, there’s a 50% chance that she’ll grow up to have PCOS, as well. As her parent, you can set her on the path to living a healthy, happy life despite that!
While PCOS may make it harder for you to produce breast milk at first, most mothers with PCOS eventually manage to breastfeed properly… and it’s quite important that they do! PCOS comes with a higher risk of diabetes both for parent and baby, but breastfeeding greatly reduces it for both of you.
Some women with PCOS take diabetes and insulin-controlling medications like Metformin. In many cases, it’s possible to manage PCOS without such medication. The good news is that even if you are taking Metformin or a similar drug, you can still breastfeed your child.
PCOS Pregnancy Treatment
There is currently no cure for PCOS. Through close monitoring and holistic care, it’s possible to manage it and live a much healthier life.
For pregnant women and those wanting to get pregnant, managing your PCOS guarantees a better outcome. With an analytical, holistic approach towards balancing your hormones, you can increase your chances of getting pregnant and reduce the risks for you and your baby.
Dr. Galina has developed a Holistic Program for PCOS Management. This program is extremely beneficial for women with PCOS who want to have a healthy pregnancy. It’s based on a Naturopathic Approach and includes four functional medicine tenets:
???? Dietary Modification
???? Lifestyle Changes
???? Specialty Testing
???? Supplementation
PCOS does not have to define you, but rather YOU define PCOS!