Fertility & Infertility

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The new, several-mornings-after pill

Monday, August 16th, 2010

The FDA has just approved an emergency contraceptive that can prevent pregnancy if taken up to five days after intercourse.

The new drug, ulipristal acetate (ella), will be available by prescription only, unlike the so-called “morning-after pill,” levonorgestrel, which can be bought over-the-counter.

While ella is not the first emergency contraceptive to be approved, it gives women a wider window of opportunity to prevent pregnancy than previous emergency contraceptives such as levonorgestrel, which must be taken within 72 hours to be effective.

Although it’s been used in Europe for the past year, ella won’t be available here in the U.S. for another two to three months. And there are still risks and side-effects associated with it, as with all drugs. Still, the introduction of a new emergency alternative is good news for women and their doctors, in preventing unintended pregnancy.

- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD. MPH

Posted in Contraception (birth control), Fertility & Infertility, General health news, Women's health news | No Responses »
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Overweight or Obese? Don’t Count On Your Birth Control Pills.

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Since the pill first appeared on the scene, about 50 years ago, women have felt secure knowing that they had an almost foolproof way to avoid unwanted pregnancies. And that’s been mostly true.

But maybe not for all women.

If you’re overweight or obese, recent studies suggest that birth control pills might not be as effective for you as they are for more slender women:

“In one study of oral contraceptive pills, women with a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight range (a BMI of 25 or more) had a higher risk of pregnancy that those in the normal weight range. In another study of contraceptive skin patches, higher body weight — not higher BMI — was associated with higher risks of pregnancy.”

In addition to the sobering news about the lessened effectiveness of hormonal birth control, these birth control methods are thought to slightly increase a woman’s risks of heart disease, high blood pressure and other conditions. When you consider that overweight and obese women are already at increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and other ills, and that pregnancy is a riskier venture, overall, for obese women and their babies, you have a new incentive for getting your weight down.

I know it isn’t easy. I’ve struggled with weight myself and can attest to the fact that it’s a constant battle. But it’s a battle we must fight – and win. And now, we have one more reason to do it.

- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH

Posted in Contraception (birth control), Fertility & Infertility, General health news, Pregnancy, Women's health issues, Women's health news | 1 Response »
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How late can you wait to have a baby?

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Today, many women are delaying starting families, most likely due to career and  economic concerns. Pregnancy rates are down in all age groups except for those 40 to 44 years of age, says the CDC, where pregnancy rates are up by 4 percent.

With all those over-40 women having babies, does this mean you can wait indefinitely if you hope to get pregnant? Not really.  A woman’s peak of fertility is about 25 years of age.  After that, “it’s all downhill.”  The likelihood of becoming pregnant drops dramatically well before you reach menopause, which is what many women think of as the end of their fertile years. A great number of those after-40 pregnancies are the results of medical interventions such as in vitro fertilization and donor eggs from 25 year olds.  Unlike our male counterparts who keep producing new sperm every 74 days, women are given their complement of eggs way before they are even born and there are no more new eggs to be produced.   Therefore, at 36 years of age, a woman’s eggs are 36+ years old with all the attendant risks that accompany any aging process.  According to the March of Dimes:

“At age 25, a woman has about a 1-in-1,250 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome; at age 40, the risk increases to 1-in-100 chance; and at 45, the risk  of carrying a child with a chromosomal anomaly such as Down syndrome, continues to rise to 1-in-30 chance.”

The advent of artificial reproductive technologies virtually transforms a woman’s “biological clock” into a perpetual calendar, but not without risks.  In studies, babies born via in vitro fertilization have been shown to have a higher risk of birth defects.

If an older woman doesn’t mind having a baby who carries none of her DNA, she may opt for a donor egg from a younger woman, which is then fertilized by her husband and the embryo transferred into her uterus.  Many of the older celebrities have chosen this route for their family planning.

Medical interventions, while they seem miraculous when they work, aren’t guaranteed to be successful. Just as in getting pregnant the old-fashioned way, your chances of success drop the older you are.  In vitro fertilization will result in a live birth among women past 40 only 6 to 10 percent of the time versus a 30 to 35 percent success rate among women younger than 35.

Nature’s message is clear, and unfortunately, it doesn’t offer any leeway in difficult economic times or while you are working your way up the corporate ladder: if you want to start a family, you’re more likely to be successful if you begin well before you turn 40.

- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH

Posted in Childbirth & delivery, Fertility & Infertility, Pregnancy, Women's health issues, Your newborn baby | No Responses »
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Should schools provide voluntary testing for STDs?

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Yesterday, I was on Dr. Nancy’s noontime show on MSNBC, as one of two medical expert guests, to discuss whether schools should be permitted to offer voluntary testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to their students.

As you’ll see from the video, we three physicians (who are also all mothers) — Dr. Nancy, myself, and a doctor from the Medical Institute for Sexual Health in Austin, Texas — agreed that this is a no-brainer. Of course, we should allow schools to offer voluntary testing for STDs.

Why should we test? Because, in a pilot program at eight high schools in the Washington, D.C. area, 13 percent of the teens who took advantage of voluntary testing were found to be infected, most often with chlamydia and gonorrhea. Chlamydia often causes no symptoms but, if left untreated, can lead to chronic pelvic pain due to pelvic inflammatory disease, an increase in ectopic (abnormal) pregnancy and infertility. Only by testing can we be certain to discover and treat it.

This does not mean we want our teens to be intimate at such a young age. But we must face the fact that, despite our best efforts, some are becoming intimate. And, because of this, some teens face the risk of sexually transmitted diseases that, if left untreated, can cause lifelong damage.

No one would be forced to get a test and no one is suggesting anything but that we make the tests available to kids who wish to know whether they’ve been exposed. If they fear that they are infected, we must give them a way to find out for sure so that they can get treatment.

- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH

Posted in Fertility & Infertility, General health news, Media appearances, The Ditchdigger's Daughters, Women's health issues, Women's health news | No Responses »
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Why your Ob-Gyn should be board-certified

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

It’s almost impossible to judge a professional’s skills if you’re not a member of that profession. Only a radiologist can say whether another radiologist accurately read a CT scan. Only a dentist can attest to the quality of the crown another dentist fits over a molar.

So how do you, a layperson, judge the qualifications of your doctor? If they drive fancy cars, wear designer clothes, and charge the highest fees in the community, you can be sure they’re successful. But does that mean they’re qualified? You can ask your girlfriends or your sister or mother to recommend someone. You can determine whether you have rapport with a physician. But that won’t tell you about qualifications, either.

If you want to know whether the kind, caring person you select has the minimum qualifications, there’s one way to determine that. Go here to see whether your doctor is board-certified.

Board certification isn’t mandatory. Once a doctor gets a medical degree and a state license to practice medicine and surgery, he or she can practice any specialty. No law requires a doctor to complete a four-year residency in a specialty, such as ob-gyn, in order to be called a specialist. Nothing prevents a doctor from giving him or herself the title of obstetrician or fertility expert or perinatal specialist or really, almost anything.

But only board certification assures you that the doctor has earned that title.

A board certified doctor has gone a giant step further than a physician who hasn’t passed her boards. After completing a residency program, passing a written test in the specialty, and practicing for a year or two, she’s gathered up all her cases and submitted them to an august body known as the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Before these distinguished university professors and chairs of departments, she’s been extensively questioned about real and hypothetical situations and asked about diagnoses, patient management and treatment.

As an oral examiner for the American Board of Ob-Gyn since 1997, I’ve certified hundreds of new ob-gyn candidates who have proven their capabilities under difficult circumstances. And there were some who did not pass because they didn’t meet those high standards.

So I speak from experience when I say that board certification is the minimum you should expect from your doctor.

- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH

Posted in Childbirth & delivery, Contraception (birth control), Fertility & Infertility, Hormone replacement therapy, Menstruation, Pregnancy, Women's health issues, Women's health news, Your newborn baby | No Responses »
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Daily sex for healthier sperm?

Monday, July 6th, 2009

A new study by an Australian fertility expert, Dr. David Greening of Sydney IVF, has caused a bit of a stir. Greening studied 118 men whose sperm had greater than average DNA damage and found that, when they ejaculated daily, the resulting sperm was healthier.

All well and good so far but Greening’s prescription for greater fertility success made me cringe in empathy for my patients who are trying to get pregnant.

Greening recommends that couples engage in sex every day to improve their chances of conceiving.

Maybe it takes a woman to understand that this isn’t the greatest advice in the world. Too many women come to my office, sore and miserable, because their husbands want to do it every day. They don’t want to say no when they’re on a mission to conceive. And now, this (male, you’ll notice) doctor is saying this is the best way to go?

All right ladies, sit down (if you’re not too sore), because you don’t have to take Greening’s advice. Greening’s findings were that daily ejaculation improves sperm quality, not daily sex.

If you and the man you love want to improve your chances of conception, having intercourse three times a week is plenty.

Don’t look at clocks; don’t look at calendars and yell, “Honey, get in here quick, I’m ovulating.” That causes so much performance dysfunction for men. And it’s completely unnecessary.

All it takes is one sperm. Men ejaculate about 60 million of those little guys at a time. And the sperm hang around, ready to jump on that egg when it appears, for up to seven days. So, even though, when we ovulate, the egg is only fertilizable for up to 24 hours, it doesn’t mean that conception is now or never. With up to 60 million sperm hanging around waiting, one of them is likely to be in the right spot when the ovum shows up.

Most important for couples who want to conceive is to remember that sex, even when you’re on a baby-making mission, should never be a chore. Make sure neither of you skimps on romance, cuddling and cooing. In other words, keep the love in making love. It should be as much fun today as it was the first time (even if that first time was in the back seat of a vintage Chevy). Relax and enjoy the experience and each other. Soon enough, if neither of you has problems with fertility, baby will make three.

- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH

Posted in Fertility & Infertility, General health news, Pregnancy, Women's health issues | No Responses »
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