[Medical Q&A] What bad living habits may affect women’s pregnancy?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Shang Xuejun, Chief Physician, General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command of PLA

Good living habits are crucial for women to conceive. Some bad living habits may affect women's endocrine system and ovulation, and even further damage the reproductive system. If women have the following bad living habits before preparing for pregnancy, they should give them up in time. This is not only responsible for their own health, but also for the health of their offspring.

(1) Staying up late for a long time and irregular work and rest schedule: Long-term lack of sleep can lead to a reversal of the biological clock, affecting the normal functions of the hypothalamus and pineal gland, and then leading to female endocrine disorders, the inability of the ovaries to secrete sex hormones normally, and ovulation cycle disorders, thereby increasing the probability of ovulation disorders, and affecting female fertility over time.

(2) Smoking and alcoholism: Cigarettes contain thousands of toxic and harmful substances, such as nicotine and tar, which can affect the blood circulation of the female reproductive system, while alcohol can directly affect the probability of conception.

(3) Excessive dieting and blind weight loss: Excessive dieting can lead to malnutrition and poor physical fitness in women, and may even lead to endocrine disorders, menstrual cycle disorders, decreased egg vitality, cessation of ovulation, etc. Excessive dieting can cause nutritional imbalance and severe deficiency of trace elements, which can also affect women's ability to conceive.

(4) Sex during menstruation: From the perspective of women's physiological health, sex during menstruation is not advisable. Since the cervix is ​​closed at ordinary times, bacteria cannot enter the pelvic cavity, but during menstruation, the cervix becomes loose and its protective ability decreases. Sex during menstruation can easily allow bacteria and blood to enter the pelvic cavity, thus causing pelvic inflammatory disease and endometriosis, which seriously endangers women's health and fertility.

(5) Not paying attention to contraception: Some women do not pay attention to contraception and choose to terminate the pregnancy through artificial abortion after an unexpected pregnancy. Repeated artificial abortions can damage the woman's uterus, reduce the probability of pregnancy, and even lead to infertility in severe cases.