Common Causes of Infertility

The uterus has to be healthy and the uterine lining or endometrial lining needs to be good and thick to help conception to occur and maintain. Some of the common causes of infertility stem from uterine issues.

The role the uterus plays in the reproductive cycle is to not only house the pregnancy, but to provide a rich lining that regenerates each cycle, that helps to nourish and cushion a fertilized egg. This is necessary for implantation to take place.
In the reproductive cycle, if no fertilized egg burrows into the lining, the hormones of the body signals the uterus to shed the lining, thus bringing on a new menstrual cycle, where the lining is built back up over a one week time frame once the bleeding is done.

If there are problems with this cycle, if the uterus can’t build a good rich thick lining each month, this can cause infertility and or miscarriages.

Below are issues that can happen with the uterus:

Asherman’s Syndrome – this is when scar tissue and adhesions form within the uterus. This can prevent implantation and or cause a miscarriage.

Endometrial lining issues -this is when the lining is too thin to maintain a fertilized egg. Normal lining thickness is around 8-13 mm. If the lining is less than 6 mm or more than 15 mm it can either cause infertility by not allowing a fertilized egg to implant, or if implantation does take place, can cause a miscarriage.

Fibroid tumors – these are non- cancerous tumors that grow within the uterine cavity and can hinder implantation and / or cause a miscarriage.

Luteal phase defect – this is caused when the time from ovulation to menstruation (known as the luteal phase) is under 10 days. The uterus needs to be able to maintain the uterine lining for more than 10 days in order for a pregnancy to take hold. A luteal phase defect causes early miscarriages.

Malformed uterus – sometimes the uterus will not form correctly. This can cause miscarriages or prevent implantation. These are called bicornuate uterus or a T-shaped uterus or a uterine septum.

Uterine polyps – growths within the uterine cavity, impairing implantation and / or causing miscarriages.

The best way to check the uterus for common causes of infertility and find out what’s going on is with a procedure called a hysteroscopy. This is when a small telescope-tube is inserted through the vagina and cervix and into the uterine cavity. Once in the uterus is filled with fluid (normally a saline solution) and then can be seen on a screen via the telescope tube. This helps to see if there are an abnormalities or growths. This helps to determine the diagnosis and course of action for treatment.

The good news is that uterus infertility doesn’t mean you can never carry a pregnancy to term. With today’s advances in medical technology and medicines, there are many remedies out there for successful treatment of this resulting in a happy healthy pregnancy.