Menu

Increasing Trends in Infertility - Cocoon Hospotel

The problem of infertility has not given its due attention in India because it is not a life-threatening condition. Infertility is a life crisis with invisible losses, and its consequences aremanifold

Infertility means not being able to become pregnant after a year of trying. If a woman can get pregnant but keeps having miscarriages or stillbirths, that's also called infertility.
Infertility is fairly common. After one year of having unprotected sex, about 15 percent of couples are unable to get pregnant. About a third of the time, infertility can be traced to the woman. In another third of cases, it is because of the man. The rest of the time, it is because of both partners or no cause can be found.

Etiology of infertility varies from region to region and from one population to another and even from one locality to another within the same population. Childlessness has serious demographic, social and health implications. Hence an attempt has been made to get some approximation about levels and patterns of infertility and childlessness in India by using National Family Health Survey-2 (1998-1999) and National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-2006) data. The study population consists of women aged 20-49 years married for ≥ 5 years. Age of women, age at first marriage, place of residence, standard of living, working status of women, and region are some of the variables related with the rate of infertility and childlessness. Infertility rate is high among women in urban areas. This may be due to lifestyle or a later age at first marriage. Considering religion, Muslims show the lowest infertility rate. Scheduled tribes have high infertility rate. With increasing levels of educational attainment among women, infertility rate increases. This can be related to the fact that with aspirations for attaining higher educational level, marriage is delayed as a result of which in confirmation with aforementioned causation factors (higher age at marriage, urban living style etc.), infertility rate is high among this sub group of population.

Today, around 15 per cent of the Indian population, both male and female, are infertile. Though in general the percentage of male infertility is on the rise, it cannot be avoided that both men and women in cities are prone to infertility due to their working style, said Dr Sunita Shishodia, Director Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at Cocoon Jaipur.

“We see a lot of cases of infertility on a monthly basis and every time we see that the complexity of infertility increases. Male infertility is mainly due to intoxication, it could be environmental or their lifestyle habits. While female infertility is due to disorders like polycystic ovaries or endometriosis that contributes to 25 per cent of infertility,” she said.
“When women are exposed to too much stress their hypothalamus is affected due to which they face irregular periods, which could also be due to PCOD, a disorder that is often found in women these days. Late marriages also contribute to this problem. So it is advised that women who are facing erratic changes in their menstrual cycle to consult a gynecologist at the earliest to prevent infertility,” said Dr Shishodia, who assures that the infertility could be treated.

She further said that the problem was more prevalent among the working class, especially those working in the IT sector. Reason: Psycho-sexual stress, which tends to be high in career-oriented people.Doctors who are pursuing their MD at PGI are aged between 25 and 30 years, which is considered to be the most fertile age. But, excessive working hours, stress and peer pressure does not allow them to lead a happy family life. She added that the problem was similar with city residents in every profession.

The menstrual cycle of women usually starts at the age of 13 and goes on till 50 years, and the fertility life span is from 18 to 35 years. Thus, 12 to 13 years before menopause, fertility is practically lost, and hardly 6-7 per cent women can conceive. After a person crosses the age of 30, fertility starts decreasing, and after 35 it decreases drastically.

Dr. SunitaShishodia
Director,Obstetrics and Gynecology
Cocoon, Jaipur 

No comments: