To understand the question of how adenomyosis affects the process of bearing a child and the course of pregnancy, you need to understand for yourself what adenomyosis is, what are its causes, and how to behave in the presence of this pathology.
Adenomyosis general information
Adenomyosis is one of the varieties of uterine endometriosis. The mucous membrane of the uterus (endometrium) tends to grow in order to receive a fertilized egg and help it gain a foothold on the body of the uterus. If conception did not occur, the endometrium unnecessary in such quantities exfoliates and is excreted by the body naturally during menstruation. When the endometrium is too much and for some reason does not find the usual way out, its tissues begin to spread to grow into the muscle layer of the uterus and spread further beyond.
The growth of the endometrium into the body of the uterus, in fact, is called adenomyosis. Moreover, it is worth noting that the overgrown endometrium is not a malignant neoplasm and has nothing to do with oncology. The causes of its occurrence are called very different – abortion, miscarriage, cesarean section and any other surgical manipulations on the uterus, stressful situations, hard physical labor. Even sunbathing or frequent visits to the solarium can trigger the development of adenomyosis.
Symptoms that make you think about the problem, in this case, are as follows:
– plentiful, long-term, irregular menstruation;
– acute pain in the lower abdomen during menstruation;
– the presence of spotting between cycles;
– pain during intercourse;
– change in the size of the uterus (determined using ultrasound diagnostics).
The interaction of adenomyosis and pregnancy
Many doctors believe that adenomyosis and pregnancy are incompatible. At the same time, it has not been completely proved that adenomyosis is the root cause of the problems of the woman’s reproductive sphere.
Often adenomyosis is asymptomatic and does not bother a woman at all, without affecting her health and not requiring treatment. And sometimes it can interfere with conception or create a threat of miscarriage of an already happened pregnancy. In this case, adenomyosis is considered as one of the factors of infertility and requires treatment with special hormonal drugs, which should only be prescribed by a doctor.
In medical practice, there are cases (and this is not uncommon) when adenomyosis is not an obstacle to a woman’s desire to become a mother. Moreover, pregnancy and adenomyosis have a positive effect on each other – the disease does not show aggression to the fetus, and pregnancy, being a natural menopause, prevents the growth of the endometrium.
Pregnant women with a history of adenomyosis are under the constant supervision of a gynecologist. Experts note a decrease in the manifestations of adenomyosis during pregnancy, in some cases adenomyosis is completely cured by pregnancy. Therefore, sometimes gynecologists even recommend that patients with adenomyosis get pregnant in order to overcome the disease without additional medical treatment.
What conclusions can and should be drawn from the above? The combination of two conditions – adenomyosis and pregnancy can have both positive and negative consequences. But how events will develop in each particular case, not a single specialist will undertake to say.
If a woman is disturbed by any of the indicated symptoms, but in the future she plans to give birth to a baby, in order to exclude any risks of complications for herself and for the unborn child, it makes sense to consult a gynecologist and undergo a full examination. It is also necessary to do this because these symptoms can mean the presence of completely different diseases of the female genital organs. Self-control of the pathological processes occurring within the reproductive system is highly not recommended and may have irreversible consequences.