"Give birth - will pass": Can the absence of children harm health
Olga Lukinskaya
RESPONSES TO THE MAJORITY OF US QUESTIONS we are all used to searching online. In this series of materials we ask precisely such questions - burning, unexpected or widespread - to professionals in various fields.
Many of us have heard the phrase “give birth and everything will pass,” and “everything” could mean headache, inflammation of the skin, and painful menstruation. Omit the inability of friends and relatives to be sensitive and not to interfere in someone else's personal life. But is there any sound grain in such recommendations? Can pregnancy and childbirth really reduce the risks of future diseases or eliminate the manifestations of existing ones? We asked these questions to the expert.
Olga Terekhina
Doctor - Obstetrician-Gynecologist of the Atlas Medical Center, Candidate of Medical Sciences
You can often hear that women giving birth are healthier - in some cases this may be true. But the point is not in some magical effect of pregnancy, but in the fact that a woman is preparing for a planned pregnancy. She goes through medical checks, eliminates all bad habits (primarily alcohol and smoking), normalizes weight, begins to eat right and generally lead a healthy lifestyle - and all this has a powerful positive effect on overall health. Visiting doctors of different specialties in the framework of examinations is also useful: sometimes it helps to identify serious diseases in the early stages. Of course, these are not joyful finds, but they have a rather positive effect: the earlier a disease is found, the easier it is to cure it.
True, there are some diseases and conditions on which pregnancy can have a positive effect. In this case, pregnancy, of course, can not be regarded as a means of healing or a cure for all diseases. Yes, in medical practice there are episodes when symptoms of some diseases disappear during pregnancy. For example, changes in the levels of estrogen in the body can help to stop migraine attacks or reduce their frequency: during pregnancy, the hormone progesterone is produced, and when it prevails over estrogen, migraines can disappear.
Pregnancy cannot be considered as a means of healing, but it happens that during it symptoms of some diseases disappear.
Also, a pregnant woman can say goodbye to endometriosis. In this disease, endometrial cells - the inner layer of the uterine wall - grow beyond its limits, and the overgrown areas undergo all the changes characteristic of the endometrium during the menstrual cycle. Since the menstrual cycle stops during pregnancy and lactation, the unpleasant symptoms of endometriosis stop. In patients up to the age of twenty-seven, improvements can also be observed after the breastfeeding period.
The connection of pregnancy with the risks of various malignant tumors has not yet been fully studied, but interesting data appear. For example, in some studies, full-term pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of cancer of the ovary and endometrium, and in women who gave birth to more than one child, the likelihood of these diseases was even lower. Also, according to statistics, women who gave birth to twenty-five years and breastfed two or three children are less susceptible to breast cancer. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the development of the mammary glands is beneficially influenced by the fulfillment of their direct biological function.
Despite the existence of a number of diseases, the risk of which pregnancy can reduce (or ease), it will be a mistake to say that pregnancy gives a woman a stronger and longer health. The health of every woman is a unique individual system that is influenced by genetics, comorbidities and lifestyle features.
It must be remembered that pregnancy is a strong stress for the body, and in some cases it can have a strong negative effect on health.
Moreover, it must be remembered that pregnancy itself is very stressful for the body, and in some cases, by contrast, it can have a strong negative effect on health. It is very important to consider the possibility of such an effect during pregnancy, for example, after thirty-five years. At this age, pregnancy is accompanied by an increase in a number of risks; the level of risk is also associated with heredity and predisposition to certain diseases. If there were early menopause, genital cancer, diabetes, blood pressure problems and other chronic diseases, it is safer to give birth within the so-called optimal reproductive age from about twenty to thirty-four years.
Sometimes doctors generally do not recommend pregnancy or childbirth or suggest that they be postponed due to some severe pathologies. As a rule, these are oncological diseases that require radical intervention, diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys, blood, and the musculoskeletal system. If successful, a timely decision in the future may give birth to a safe health for both mother and child.
Anyway, even for those diseases whose risk is reduced for women who gave birth in comparison with women who have not given birth, no one guarantees, and it would be strange to have a child, focusing only on statistical risks for one's own health. The emergence of a new life is a big responsibility; A child is a person who will need to raise, educate and love, and, perhaps, it is better to plan a family, based on these considerations, and not because pregnancy can cure your migraine.
Photo: praisaeng - stock.adobe.com, My peekaboo