Expert Lists Causes of Infertility, Urges Couples to Seek Care

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Professor Godwin Ajayi, director, Prenatal Diagnostic and Therapy Centre, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, has urged couples with infertility to seek appropriate care, stating that oftentimes, the problem could be due to infection, low blood volume, sperm antibodies and poor understanding of their body systems.

The fertility expert, who gave this advice during a lecture he delivered at the hospital to couples with challenges of conception, stated that many infections, such as mumps, measles, cytomegalic virus, hepatitis D and E, as well as Candida, can contribute to infertility, abortion and malformation in an unborn child.

Professor Ajayi, a consultant gynaecologist/obstetrician assured expectant parents that even where the man is found without any spermatozia, this should still not be a barrier to a family having a child of their own, as many men had become infertile due to poorly treated mumps they had as young boys.

He has also charged women to ensure that their undergarments are always washed and ironed to kill germs such as Candida, a germ that affects chances of conception. The expert said low blood volume should also be avoided because it could also predispose to premature delivery.

Contrary to the common thinking in the community, the consultant mentioned that the fact that a woman is menstruating, does not mean that she is producing eggs, which could be fertilised by a sperm for a child to be formed.

According to him:“At times, the zero sperm count could arise from blockage in the passage of sperm, hormonal or due to antibodies.”

Professor Ajayi, also noted that sometimes, diseases such as diabetes and medications can contribute to the problem of infertility, and urged women to learn how to take their basal body temperature, to know when they are fertile, to improve their chances of conception.

“By charting the basal body temperature, a woman can know when she has ovulated, rather than guessing, based on such things as pain in the pelvic region. In about a third of the time, using symptoms as pelvic pain to determine the time of ovulation is incorrect. It is a guess work.

“Also, charting the basal body temperature can be used by a woman to detect if she is to have a miscarriage, much earlier before any sign of bleeding,” the expert said.