What causes postpartum hypothyroidism?

Although hypothyroidism is not a very serious disease, for pregnant women, if they have hypothyroidism, it will cause fetal maldevelopment. However, some women are normal during pregnancy, but find symptoms of hypothyroidism after giving birth. But what causes postpartum hypothyroidism? This is related to many factors. One is malnutrition caused by feeding children; another is the weakening of one's own immunity.

Why is hypothyroidism more likely to occur after childbirth?

First, iodine causes postpartum hypothyroidism: Excessive iodine can induce postpartum hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is most likely to occur in women with hypothyroidism whose daily iodine intake is higher than their daily requirement. It is reported that postpartum hypothyroidism is a special type of autoimmune thyroiditis, with the prevalence reported in various countries being 4% to 6%. In the past, the medical community believed that postpartum thyroiditis was a transient disease that would not endanger the health of the mother and offspring. However, the research team has confirmed that if patients with postpartum hypothyroidism develop hypothyroidism during pregnancy, it will affect the development of the fetus's nervous system and the child's IQ.

Second, autoimmunity causes postpartum hypothyroidism: It has been proven that postpartum hypothyroidism is closely related to autoimmunity. For those who are TPOAb positive in early pregnancy (first 3 months), the incidence of postpartum hypothyroidism is as high as 30% to 50%. High levels of TPOAb after delivery often indicate a severe postpartum immune rebound and immune-mediated thyroid damage. In recent years, some people have also noticed that hypothyroidism may occur within 1 year after a natural or elective abortion in early pregnancy (including ectopic pregnancy), which is similar to postpartum thyroiditis, and the risk of miscarriage is twice as high in those who are antibody-positive before pregnancy than in those who are antibody-negative. The immunological changes in preterm pregnancy are sufficient to cause patients to develop postpartum hypothyroidism.

What to do if you have hypothyroidism after childbirth

Although postpartum hypothyroidism is not a very serious disease, it must be detected in time and treated effectively in the early stage to actively prevent the disease from worsening. Because our body structure is extremely wonderful, if minor illnesses are not treated and prevented in time, if the condition worsens, the consequences will be disastrous and will also cause other complications. Therefore, some adaptive adjustments are needed in life to try to avoid factors that aggravate the condition.

If hypothyroidism is cured, you must also pay attention to preventing recurrence. Because after hypothyroidism is cured, the mother's body is still in the conditioning period, so you must pay special attention to your diet at this time, and you must also maintain an optimistic and happy mental state. Comprehensive conditioning to enhance the mother's physique, coupled with a happy and good mental state, is an important way to prevent recurrence.

From this it can be seen that there are many causes of postpartum hypothyroidism, and postpartum hypothyroidism is not very serious, so mothers don’t need to be nervous. There won't be much of a problem. Mothers with postpartum hypothyroidism should pay more attention to their diet. Eat more protein-rich foods, more foods high in iodine, and try not to eat seafood.