Reproductive Health in Women: Nowadays maintaining a healthy Reproductive life is as Essential as maintaining a healthy physical and mental life. But in today’s hectic lifestyle and degrading quality of food contents, it’s difficult to do this. Reproductive Health is not only associated with hormones and cleanliness it’s also associated with health services, healthy relationships, awareness, effective and reasonable contraceptives, proper guidance for unplanned as well as planned pregnancy, and mental peace.

The Reproductive phase of a female starts with menarche (which marks the starting of menstruation) and ends with menopause (end of menstruation). During this whole period from menarche to menopause a female’s body goes through a lot of changes which can either be physical or mental. Maintaining reproductive health is very important and is not very tough work it can be done by following certain measures and having awareness about all the simple crucial things.

Reproductive Health Issues

Reproductive health issues lead to a lot of problems which can range from minor infections to major health issues. Problems caused by these issues are as follows-

1. Menstrual problems
2. infections
3. Infertility
4. Inadequate breast milk supply
5. Problems during Pregnancy
6. Endometriosis

1. Menstrual Problems

Menstruation which is commonly termed as periods is normal vaginal bleeding in females which lasts from 3 to 7 days. It starts in a female when she hits puberty at the age of 12 to 14 and lasts till her late 40s to early 50s depending on the female. It’s a very natural process but it can lead to severe infections if not taken proper care of.

Menstrual problems range from-

•  Irregular blood flow – It’s the most common type of menstrual problem. mostly every woman faces irregular blood flow during menstruation as it’s caused by poor diet and lack of exercise.
•  PCOD (polycystic ovarian disease)- PCOD is a type of disorder in which ovaries release immature eggs.   The Main cause of PCOD is poor diet, lack of exercise, and obesity.
•  Dysmenorrhea – It’s a condition where women feel very painful cramps.
•  Painful cramps, Lower back pain, Pain in thighs, and mood swings.

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2. Infections

Reproductive tract infections are caused by unhygienic conditions, not cleaning properly, wearing unwashed or wet undergarments, and using pads for more than 5 hours. Infections of the reproductive tract have symptoms such as itching, soreness, white discharge, cottage cheese-like discharge, and much more.

Some of the Reproductive Tract Infections Are –

• Yeast Infection – It’s a type of fungal infection in which symptoms like itchiness, discharge like cottage cheese, burning sensation while urinating, and at the time of intercourse, swelling of the vulva are found. The main cause of yeast infection is antibiotic usage, diabetes (not controlled), and a weak immune system.
• Bacterial Vaginosis – As the name suggests it’s caused by bacteria that are outgrown and live in the vagina. It doesn’t have a proper symptom and there is no pain or itchiness, but the most common symptom is a smelly white discharge. it’s not transmitted sexually.
• Chlamydia – It’s also a bacterial infection that is common in the UK. Its symptoms include white discharge and bleeding between periods or during or after sex. Untreated chlamydia can cause infertility, problems during pregnancy, or pelvic inflammatory disease. It can be treated easily with antibiotics.
• Vaginal Thrush – It’s a fungal infection that results in soreness, itching, cottage cheese-like white discharge, and pain during the urine. causes of vaginal thrush include wearing wet and tight-fitting clothes and using shower products on genitals that are harsh on them and contain sulfate and parabens.

3. Infertility

Fertility refers to a condition when a woman is healthy to give birth to a young one but if any woman is unable to do so by natural processes she’s termed as infertile. Infertility can be caused by many things like a blockage in the fallopian tube, the uterus being inadequate for implantation of fetus, not releasing the proper amount of hormones (hormones are biocatalysts which require the optimum temperature to work properly), fibroids in the uterus and irregular ovulation.

4. Inadequate Breast Milk Supply

Breast milk is very important for a newborn as it not only nourishes them but also provides them with antibodies to build up their immune system and fight diseases. An inadequate supply of breast milk can become a major problem if not taken care of it mainly happens due to hormones, diabetes, and thyroid which are common in pregnant ladies.

5. Complications During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is one of the most life-changing and beautiful experiences of a woman’s life. But pregnancy brings a lot of complications within itself.

Some common complications of pregnancy include –

• Hypertension or High blood pressure – Pregnancy induces a lot of hormones to release in an inadequate amount and in some women, pregnancy comes with a lot of stress which eventually results in high BP.
• Depression And Anxiety – Due to pregnancy most women get restricted in some things like their food choices and the work they do also pregnancy changes their body in many ways which can result in insecurities for the women and mood swings and early stages of depression, and if women don’t get proper support from their husbands or partner and their families she can become depressed which causes anxiety.
• Gestational Diabetes – This term refers to women who were not affected by diabetes earlier but during or after pregnancy they get diabetes. Pregnancy causes a lot of hormonal disbalance in a woman’s body. The body digests food in the form of glucose and with the help of insulin released by the pancreas the glucose is taken out by the blood and goes to the cells of the body but during pregnancy, the insulin formation gets affected either its released in low quantity or it’s not used properly which causes diabetes.

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6. Endometriosis

It’s a condition in which tissues similar to the uterus grow on the outside of the uterus wall which makes it difficult for women to get pregnant. This can also cause inflammation in the pelvic region and also cause a lot of pain.

It can start at the first menstrual cycle and end at menopause (the end of the menstrual cycle). There are no proper symptoms it can be seen in women who feel lower belly pain during period or after sex, trouble getting pregnant, laziness, and heavy bleeding during periods.

As we have seen now that reproductive health problems can cause major issues in our body so it’s very much important to maintain them. It’s very important to take steps to prevent these problems.

Tips to Prevent Reproductive Health Problems

Some tips to prevent reproductive health problems are written below-

1. Healthy Diet
2. Regular visit to gynae
3. Maintaining proper hygiene
4. Quit Smoking
5. Regular Orgasms
6. Use Contraception’s

1. Healthy Diet

It’s very important to take the proper amount of minerals in our diet. minerals like calcium, magnesium, iodine, iron, zinc, and selenium play a very important role in fertility, and also, calcium and magnesium are important for reproductive health so maintaining a healthy and full of important minerals diet is very important. Healthy diet not only improves our reproductive health but also improves our physical and mental health.

2. Regular Visit to Gynae

With this alarming rate of changes in human lifestyle infections and STDs are very common. It’s advisable to have a trusted and good gynecologist for regular screenings. In regular tests, one must include infection tests and also STD tests if needed. early detection of any kind of disease or infection can help in curing it properly as compared to after detection when the disease becomes fatal. A gynecologist not only cures diseases and infections but also advises you or guides you properly on reproductive health and also brings proper measures to maintain reproductive life to the light of your eyes.

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3. Maintaining Proper Hygiene

As every part of our body needs proper cleaning similarly reproductive parts also need proper cleaning and washing. It’s said that the vagina is a self-cleaning organ which cleans itself internally on its own but then also it’s very important to clean the reproductive parts from outside to prevent any kind of infections. but there are some measures that you have to keep in mind before cleaning your intimate parts –

• The vaginal skin is not similar to normal skin its very sensitive and delicate which makes it prone to infections. The normal soap with one wash its body has a Ph of more than 5.5 which can be very harsh to the vaginal skin. The vagina should be washed with soap or another thing that has a Ph between 3.8 to 4.5 washing with soap of the right Ph can help prevent irritation, soreness, etc.
• One should always wash the vagina with soap or washing material that has natural ingredients. Artificial ingredients can cause dryness in the vagina.
• As mentioned above vaginal skin is very delicate and sensitive so one should never scrub it as scrubs are very harsh on it and can cause irritation.
• Wearing cotton underwear is suggested because cotton absorbs moisture fast and also is very softer than satin or any other material.
• Wearing tight and wet clothing can also cause irritation or infections so one should wear dry and comfortable clothing.

4. Quit Smoking

As the pack of cigarettes suggests smoking is injurious to health it would not be wrong to say it is injurious to every type of health be it physical, mental, or reproductive. smoking can lead to the predisposition of an unborn child during pregnancy. It contains a lot of harmful chemicals which also can lead to pregnancy complications, stillbirths, low birth weight, and also premature birth is seen that women who smoke have a delay in becoming pregnant or make them infertile as it has similar effects on ovaries and uterus.

5. Regular Orgasms

Orgasms are an excellent stress reliever and induces good sleep. they also release hormones and help in uterus contractions. They boost fertility in women and help in cramps during periods.

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6. Use Contraception’s

When a woman gets pregnant her life and body change in many ways and to be able to go through these changes, she must be ready for it. but in most case scenarios pregnancy is often unplanned which leads the women to go through phases of sadness and in extreme cases depression. Contraceptives are an effective way to not only be safe from unplanned pregnancy but also prevent STDs i.e., sexually transmitted diseases.

Some Contraceptives Are Listed Below

• Condoms – Although they are not 100% effective but condoms are very effective as well as reasonable for people. They are made of thin rubber or latex and prevent the entry of sperms in vagina. They can be worn by oneself without medical help which provides a lot of privacy. Also, condoms are the only contraceptives that can be worn by males and females both rest of all contraceptives are only for females.
• Diaphragm and Cervical Caps – They are barriers or cups that covers the cervix and stops the entry of sperms into the fallopian tube. They come in different sizes and thus a medical advisor is needed to use them.
• Spermicide – They are substances that can kill sperm and are used with the diaphragm and cervical caps or alone.
• Oral Contraceptives – They contain progastrin or estrogen and are pills taken by women to make their bodies improper for pregnancy.
• IUDs – Intrauterine devices are T-shaped devices that doctors inject into the female’s body they may be hormonal or copper-induced and prevents pregnancy. They work for 3 to 10 years.
• Vasectomy – It’s a method that is irreversible as once done the woman can never get pregnant in her entire life. It’s a procedure in which medical professionals cut and tie the fallopian tube (where sperm and egg fertilize) so that the sperm can never meet the egg and zygote does not form and no pregnancy happens.

Therefore we have seen that maintaining reproductive health is very important and its not a  very tough work to do .All you have to do is follow some simple measures and be aware of the do’s and don’ts .We should always have some basic knowledge about our body and how it functions to keep it healthy and free of diseases.

I wish all the females out there a beautiful , fulfilling, full of dreams  and most importantly a healthy life mentally as well as physically .

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