Dr.Ramya Gowda, Consultant – Reproductive medicine, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Bengaluru
Every woman at some point in their life wants to be a mother and journey to parenthood makes every couple complete. But off late, a growing number of couples are experiencing infertility, with around one in six seeking treatment. Amongst all the trends, one of the growing noticeable trend is huge surge of increasing infertility among the working women. While pregnancy and childbirth are highly visible and often celebrated, fertility challenges tend to be invisible and silent. Many women make changes to their lifestyles to avoid stress, which is linked to lower chances of pregnancy. Some women may leave a stressful role for one that’s more manageable alongside demanding treatments. In anticipation of a soon-to-come pregnancy, some women put their careers on hold and don’t apply for promotions, better positions, or new projects. But why is this trend rising especially in working women?
Here is why?
- In the modern world, stress has become an unavoidable phenomenon. The fast pace of life, increasing workload, irregular working hours etc. all add to physical as well as mental stress. Stress is linked to problems like increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, and also affects the reproductive system. Stress affects the reproductive system of both men and women, however, its effect is much more conspicuous in women than in men. There is an increasing evidence to show the links between day to day stress and infertility.
- Working women often tend to over-work and put their bodies under even more stress (both physical and mental)
- The undue stress leads to hormonal changes in women. It leads to a decline in the levels of estrogen (essential for reproduction) and an increase in the levels of androgens (male hormones).
- Stress leads to lower sex drive. Stressed women probably also have sex less often, and they may be more likely to smoke or drink too much alcohol or caffeine –which can even worsen the chances of conception
- When the couples are busy with their work they miss the quality time that is the couples don’t get an opportunity to have sexual contact at the most fertile period of the month.
- Woman in the quest and race of to chase several carrer progression opportunities are losing the most critical period of their life for planning a marriage & pregnancy
- Women working in night shifts or rotational shifts are at a higher risk of infertility and have lower egg count.
- Working mothers have an extra added stress of managing family and professional life which may lead to secondary infertility (unable to conceive the second time).
- Besides, working women also face other secondary problems like improper nutrition and are more prone to follow a sedentary lifestyle. This can lead to obesity and weight gain which further compounds the problem of infertility. Hence, working women are definitely at a higher risk of infertility as compared to women of older generations. The problem, however, can be mitigated to a great extent
- Late working hours also mean heavy indulgence in smoking: Tobacco use is associated with lower fertility. Smoking ages the ovaries and depletes the eggs prematurely
- Excess alcohol use: Heavy drinking is associated with an increased risk of ovulation disorders. If you’d like to get pregnant, consider avoiding alcohol completely. Abstinence at conception and during pregnancy is generally recommended because a safe level of fetal alcohol consumption hasn’t been established.
- Vigorous physical activity(exercises) : Too much vigorous physical activity can inhibit ovulation and reduce production of the hormone progesterone. If you have a healthy weight and you’re thinking of becoming pregnant soon, consider limiting vigorous physical activity to less than five hours a week
- Binge on Junk Food: Being overweight or significantly underweight can inhibit normal ovulation. One of the common cause of infertility is PCOS with obesity as its contributing factor.
- Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) Promiscuous activities either before or after marriage, can lead to transmission of many sexual diseases among both men and woman. Infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea are a leading cause of infertility for women.
- Lack of Sleep: working hours especially during night shift put you at higher risk of infertility, possibly by affecting hormone production. If you do work the night shift, try to get enough sleep when you’re not working. Night shifts should be avoided.
Age & working women
Aging decreases a woman’s chances of having a baby in the following ways:
- Her ovaries become less able to release eggs
- She has a smaller number of eggs left
- Her eggs are not as healthy
- She is more likely to have health conditions that can cause fertility problems
- She is more likely to have a miscarriage
There is an increasing desire among the newly married couples to have a child, but the infertility among the working group is increasing. Many things can change a woman’s ability to have a baby. Early the planning for pregnancy, the chances are high. Off late there has been late marriages, beyond 25 years, where in the prime age of increasing pregnancy chances (<24 years) is lost. Added to that, woman wants to shoulder the responsibility of running a household by working across several industries. In the process, planning for pregnancy is delayed. Many women are waiting until their 30s and 40s to have children. In fact, about 20 percent of women now have their first child after age 35. So age is a growing cause of fertility problems. About one-third of couples in which the woman is over 35 have fertility problems.
Impact of infertility in working women
It can be a painful emotional experience, causing a lot of psychological issues, including stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, declined sexual satisfaction and poor quality of life. The resultant psychosocial issues can affect both the couple, but studies have shown the impact is more in females than males, especially in societies where prejudices against women exist. It can end up in high degree of frustration and anger, which can affect her relationship with family, friends, even her spouse and her workplace. Likewise, infertile women are more likely to develop mental illnesses, marital dissatisfaction, and impaired quality of life compared to the individuals of fertile group.
Tips to cope up
There may be a lot of stress at work, which can in turn impair her conceiving ability. Most women do not want to discuss the issue at workplace because of fear of the employer along with the risk of negative effects on their career prospects. While stress won’t help you from getting pregnant, consider minimizing stress and practicing healthy coping methods — such as relaxation techniques definitely help when you’re trying to conceive.
- A woman should always have a well-balanced diet
- Developing healthy habits like yoga, exercise or 45 minutes of walk at least 5 days a week.
- Avoiding stress, especially physical stress at work
- Taking time off regularly to manage stress
- Avoid overworking
- Avoid smoking & alcohol
- Avoid Junk food
- Practice self-care
- get regular checkups and tests done in consultation with an experienced expert