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Early Pregnancy Testing with PCOS: Understanding the Timing and Challenges

PCOS and Pregnancy:

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at a greater risk of problems or complications during their pregnancy. In addition, infants born to such mothers are at a higher risk of medical problems and of dying before, during or right after birth.

Some of the pregnancy complications related to PCOS are:

  • Miscarriage:

Women with PCOS are thrice as likely to miscarry than women without PCOS. Drugs like metformin may reduce the risk of miscarriage in such women with PCOS.

  • Gestational diabetes:

Gestational diabetes only occurs in pregnant women. It is treatable and, if controlled, does not cause any major problems for the mother or foetus. In most cases, the condition leaves after the birth of the baby. Babies of these mothers having gestational diabetes can be larger (resulting in the need for caesarean delivery), have low blood sugar, and have trouble breathing.

  • Preeclampsia:

Preeclampsia is a sudden increase in blood pressure after a week of pregnancy, can affect the mother’s kidneys, liver and brain. If left untreated, preeclampsia can turn into eclampsia. Eclampsia can cause organ damage, seizures and even death. Currently, the primary treatment for the condition is to deliver the baby, even preterm if necessary.

  • Pregnancy-induced high blood pressure:

An increase in blood pressure that may occur in the second half of pregnancy. In extreme cases, it can lead to preeclampsia. The high blood pressure can also affect the delivery of the baby.

  • Preterm birth:

Infants are considered “preterm” if they are delivered before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Preterm infants are at risk for many health problems, both right after birth and later in life, and some of these problems can be serious.

When and How to Test for Early Pregnancy with PCOS:

Women who suffer from PCOS often have irregular periods. Also, when a woman becomes pregnant, she also misses her period. Therefore, women with PCOS often are unsure about whether or not they have PCOS.

In these instances it is necessary to take a pregnancy test. Pregnancy tests rely on the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This is called as the “pregnancy hormone” to determine whether you’re pregnant or not. And that’s not a hormone that’s directly affected by PCOS.

However, if you undergo fertility treatments that require taking certain medications, you may have hCG that can lead to a false positive pregnancy. False positives occur often in PCOS patients. Here are some other reasons why false positive pregnancy test results could occur:

  • Using an out of date pregnancy test.
  • Not following the instructions accurately.
  • Waiting too long to review the results of a test

Your hormone levels are irregular when you have PCOS and so false negatives are definitely possible. You may attempt to test for pregnancy shortly after you missed your period and get a negative result even though you have actually conceived.

The Need for Professional Assistance:

If you have PCOS and want to get pregnant you must get professional assistance. A healthcare professional will provide you with medications and suggest lifestyle changes to help remove the symptoms of PCOS which will allow you to become pregnant.

The Chennai PCOS Clinic has many doctors and healthcare workers who have treated many PCOS patients. They have aided these women in becoming pregnant and carry out their pregnancy. So if you are a woman with PCOS who desires pregnancy then the Chennai PCOS Clinic is the right choice for you.

September 30, 2024

This post was last modified on December 1, 2024 4:04 am