Every parent eagerly waits for when they will be promoted to grandparents, especially after their daughter marries. Every mother will “teach” their daughter about periods and pregnancy. Especially if the daughter is of a childbearing age, then the mother enquires about the periods and ovulation. So, in case of no conception, the parents wonder, “Our daughter is having regular periods but not getting pregnant?”. The menstrual cycle is a beautiful thing that signifies that a woman is ready to bear a child when she is ready. Most fertility experts say that periods can be your body’s way of communicating with you, and your period can be a window into your health and fertility. Regular periods give an insight into your daughter’s cycles and fertility windows and offer clues about the chances of getting pregnant. But what if your daughter is having regular periods and still isn’t getting pregnant? Then, it’s time to look at cycle length, flow rate, and duration between periods, as they can all impact your ability to conceive. Periods are directly affected by the same hormones that help you get pregnant and sustain the pregnancy full-term. Hormones can go off balance due to underlying medical conditions, stress, or extreme changes in diet; there’s a good chance your menstrual cycle will get thrown off, too.
Signs to check for if your daughter is having regular periods but not getting pregnant.
Ask your daughter to check her flow
Having a regular period is already a good indication of your chances of getting pregnant. The period flow is a good insight into your fertility. One has to get checked in cases of abnormally heavy or light periods as they point to issues that must be solved before conception. So, if your daughter is having regular periods but not getting pregnant, her flow could hint at the cause.
Issues with fertility due to heavy bleeding
According to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), below are the symptoms of a heavy period:
- For every two hours, you must change your menstrual pad/tampons or any other product you might use.
- If the bleeding has coin-sized clots.
- The flow lasts longer than 7 days.
- An extremely heavy menstrual flow is called menorrhagia, which causes dizziness, fainting, anaemia, or shortness of breath during the period. An unusually heavy period could affect your daughter’s fertility, even if the periods are regular. Heavy periods will affect your daughter’s ability to get pregnant or sustain a healthy pregnancy. Heavy periods could be due to:
- Uterine fibroids or polyps
- Endometriosis
- Adenomyosis, which means that the uterine tissue grows into the muscular uterine wall
- Irregular ovulation
- Hypothyroidism
Issues with fertility due to light bleeding
If your daughter is having difficulty conceiving, a light period indicates a potential fertility problem. Light periods are a result of:
- Underweight
- Stress
- If nearing perimenopause.
- PCOS is where your daughter might produce higher-than-average androgen hormones.
But please note that if your daughter always had a pretty light period, or if it’s always been on the short side, then this might not be the factor for pregnancy issues. However, if she is experiencing this suddenly, please look into what’s causing such a minimal period.
Period cycle length
The duration of your daughter’s period cycle is a crucial factor since abnormally long and short menstrual cycles can impact your fertility. Sudden changes in cycle length can signal hormonal imbalance or other underlying medical issues. A healthy cycle length is 28 days, but this is an empirical figure, not a hardbound number. Cycle length is crucial since it can indicate whether ovulation occurs regularly and gives a clue as to when you ovulate.
Impact of long cycles on your daughter’s chance of conception
If the gap between periods is longer, it means your daughter has ovulation issues. Long cycles mean a cycle where your body doesn’t release an egg, so the baby-making process is naturally more challenging. But please do not start worrying if your daughter occasionally has longer cycles than usual. Any travel, stress, or even illness can delay the periods. One should begin paying medical attention if the gap exceeds 45 days or more or if longer-than-average cycles are becoming the norm for your daughter.
Impact of short cycles on your daughter’s chance of conception
On the flip side, if you’ve noticed that your daughter’s periods are happening often, then don’t think she might be highly fertile; sadly, that’s not always the case. An abnormally short cycle can indicate that she has a luteal phase defect.
After ovulation, the luteal phase is the second half of the cycle, during which the progesterone rises to nourish the endometrium in case of implantation. A luteal phase shorter than seven makes pregnancy unlikely, and it should ideally be around 14 days.
If your daughter has a luteal phase defect, she could observe spotting and repeated early miscarriages. But the good news is that this condition can be treated with fertility drugs.
Spotting between periods
Spotting between periods means your daughter’s hormone levels may be slightly off balance. Spotting is more common during the starting months of periods or as one approaches menopause. Spotting occurs when progesterone hormone levels are too low to keep the endometrium in place or if estrogen levels are too high. If the mid-cycle bleeding is regular, please visit a healthcare provider who might order a simple blood test.
Other factors in play when your daughter is having regular periods but not getting pregnant
Apart from the issues with periods despite being regular, one has to take care of other fertility issues as well, such as:-
- Please try long enough. Based on your daughter’s age, they can try for 1 year if she is below 35 years and 6 months if she is above 35.
- Are there any ovulation issues
- Is there a male factor in infertility? In about all the infertile cases, 30% are due to male factor infertility. So please think from that perspective as well.
- If your daughter’s age is above 40, then even if her periods are regular, the quality and quantity of eggs reduce, which could lead to a lack of pregnancy.
- Any blocked fallopian tubes due to scarring, adhesions, or surgeries
- Is there any endometriosis?
- General health issues such as thyroid, diabetes, and hypertension.
- What is her lifestyle, and does she have the habit of smoking or taking excess alcohol?
- Is she or her male partner obese or too thin? Neither of the conditions are good.
- Finally, unexplained infertility
The bottom line is that though there could be numerous reasons why “your daughter is having regular periods but not getting pregnant,” you can always seek out medical treatments. There are various treatments available, ranging from medication surgeries to ART(assisted reproductive techniques). For more information, please visit our website https://zivafertility.com/ or contact us at +91-9100002737 or +91-9392834024.
