Women with undiagnosed endometriosis get worse with childbirth treatment, studies find

According to a new study, one-third of women receiving treatment for childbirth are diagnosed with endometriosis after the onset, and delayed diagnosis reduces the chances of childbirth.

Katrina Moss, a public health researcher at Queensland University, said that one in nine Australian women suffers from endometriosis, with endometrial tissue growing outside the uterus. Up to 40% of these women need to give birth compared to none.

She is the lead author of the study Just published It is in the journal Human Reproduction.

“For women who had endometriosis but didn’t know about it when they started childbirth treatment, they just got worse,” Dr. Moss said.

“They went through more cycles and were more likely to use endometrial insemination (IUI) compared to the recommended treatment, in vitro fertilization (IVF).”

They were also 33% less likely to have a baby than women without endometriosis.

However, the study also found that women who knew about endometriosis before giving birth had no difference in any of the results compared to asymptomatic women.

“Knowing about your diagnosis has leveled the competition,” she said.

Woman with endometriosis “not alone”

Dr. Moss had a personal experience with endometriosis and was diagnosed with endometriosis in his twenties.

She and her husband underwent 12 cycles of IVF and 7 embryo transfers, but had no children.

“The success rate of things like IVF is really pretty low, you wouldn’t want it to your worst enemy … it’s a very difficult process,” she said.

“It wasn’t what I planned, nor was it my choice.

Dr. Moss said women with undiagnosed endometriosis “did far more cycles than women who knew it.”

“Given that financial and emotional burden, they’re experiencing so much that if you had this knowledge in the first place, you didn’t have to.” Told.

“Treatment for childbirth is difficult, and even more difficult if you have undiagnosed endometriosis.”

Ashweb had a second son, Spencer, in April 2021 after five in vitro fertilizations.

She also said she felt “armed with all the facts” when she was diagnosed with endometriosis in her twenties and began treatment for childbirth.

Why is diagnosis so important before treatment?

This study used data from a longitudinal study of women’s health in Australia to investigate the experience of 1,322 women using assisted reproductive technology (ART).

Infertility expert Hayden Homer said it was the first study of its kind in Australia to investigate “the actual impact of endometriosis on infertility treatment.”

“Patients in this group have been followed for 20 years … so it is a representative dataset of how their childbirth progressed and how endometriosis affected,” said Professor Homer. Said.

IVF is “better” for women with endometriosis than “simpler forms” of assisted reproductive technology, such as IUI, because endometriosis is thought to cause “very high levels of inflammation of the pelvis.” It’s a cure, “he said.

“In that environment, exposure of sperm and eggs to their inflammatory response affects their ability to form embryos that can be planted,” said Professor Homer.

“Therefore, if in vitro fertilization is performed, the eggs and sperm are removed from the environment, they are put together in the laboratory and the embryos are cultured outside that level of inflammation.”

However, Professor Homer warned all women with childbirth problems undergoing a surgical examination for endometriosis.

“The only way to make a definite diagnosis of most endometriosis is to have a laparoscopy, which is clearly very invasive,” he said.

“If we do laparoscopy on everyone, two in three will have unnecessary surgery.”

Professor Homer cited pain as a “danger signal” for endometriosis.

“Serious pain that keeps you away from work, pain from sexual intercourse, pain from opening the intestines, etc.”

For women with these symptoms, ultrasound scanning is “a very good early kind of screening process … and you will prioritize for further investigation,” he said.

For more information on endometriosis, please visit the following URL: Endometriosis in Australia When Jean Hales..