Although PCOS is well-known as a common cause of infertility, it can also increase the risk of miscarriage. The positive news is that if you have PCOS you can gain control, taking steps to improve your diet and lifestyle to support healthy pregnancies.
It is clinically tested that a first-trimester miscarriage can occur in 50% of pregnant women with PCOS, a rate which is three times higher than that in women without PCOS.
If you have PCOS you may struggle to become pregnant and may be at higher risk of developing some pregnancy complications.
Since follicular growth is disrupted in PCOS patients, especially during Controlled Ovarian Hyper stimulation (COH), a decreased number of good oocytes/embryos in ART cycles are a widespread problem. As previous studies have shown, various factors can affect the quality of the oocytes and embryo.
PCOS pregnancies are higher risk, but that doesn't mean a mother with PCOS can't deliver a healthy full-term baby. However, pregnancy complications like high blood pressure make a cesarean delivery (C-section) more likely.
The oral diabetes medication metformin seems to reduce the chance of a late miscarriage and premature birth among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) but does not affect their rate of developing gestational diabetes, a multicenter study finds.
And because some medications used in the treatment of PCOS can increase your HCG levels, a false-positive result could be present as a result of taking these meds. However, PCOS itself will not result in having a false positive test.
Myo-inositol is a substance much like vitamin B. It is used to help women with PCOS conceive and may also help avoid miscarriage. Although evidence suggests that Myo-Inositol is helpful, many people are confused as to how to use it properly.
About 75% to 80% women with PCOS will ovulate after CC, and a conception rate of 22% per cycle has been reported. This discrepancy between ovulation and pregnancy rates is thought to be related to the antioestrogenic effect of CC on endometrial receptivity and cervical function.
Most miscarriages - 8 out of 10 (80 percent) - happen in the first trimester before the 12th week of pregnancy. Miscarriage in the second trimester (between 13 and 19 weeks) happens in 1 to 5 in 100 (1 to 5 percent) pregnancies. Pregnancy loss that happens after 20 weeks is called stillbirth.
Chromium: May improve insulin sensitivity in women with PCOS, although chromium picolinate has been shown to cause birth defects at high levels. Folic acid: Low folate is associated with a 47% increased risk of miscarriage; having both low folate and low vitamin B6 increase miscarriage risk by 310%.
A sustained intake of B-3 complex supplements, Prof. Dunwoodie and her colleagues suggest, can effectively prevent miscarriages and birth defects such as spina bifida and other vertebral segmentation malformations, as well as some heart and small kidney defects.
Avoid Drugs, Smoking, and Alcohol
These substances might be linked to an increased risk of miscarriage. Currently, there are no conclusive studies in humans proving that marijuana use during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, but animals studies suggest a link, especially in the first trimester.
PCOS should not really affect the results of your pregnancy test. False negative test results are usually caused by low levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). If the levels of this are too low sometimes a test won't detect a pregnancy. This can happen if you take the test too early.
If you are getting treated with Progesterone, you might experience sore breasts, tiredness, mood swings and appetite changes; all these are classic pregnancy symptoms. Women with PCOS should avoid using early result pregnancy tests, since these tests often produce false negatives.
It is important to remember that some of the symptoms of PCOS, such as hormonal imbalance and associated weight gain, can return and even worsen after pregnancy – and that being pregnant and successfully giving birth does not mean that PCOS has gone away.
Use of metformin throughout pregnancy in women with PCOS has shown to reduce the rates of early pregnancy loss, preterm labor, and prevention of fetal growth restriction.
The benefit of metformin on ovulation in women with polycystic ovaries is not seen right away. There is some benefit starting about a month after beginning metformin. Metformin has a more substantial benefit for fertility when the woman has been taking it for at least 60 to 90 days.
The main adverse effects that may occur while taking metformin for PCOS include various gastrointestinal symptoms. Some of these symptoms are nausea, flatulence, diarrhea, bloating, metallic taste, abdominal pain, and anorexia. Metformin may also result in malabsorption of vitamin B12 in your small intestine.
According to the international evidence-based guideline for the assessment and management of PCOS, adopting a healthy lifestyle – including being in the healthy weight range, not smoking, cutting back on alcohol, eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of regular exercise and enough sleep – is the first thing to do to ...
PCOS and twins
Women with PCOS may be more likely to have multiples (twins, or more). One study found that while the multiple pregnancy rate is 1.1% in the average population, it is 9.1% for women with PCOS patients.