Fibroids and Pregnancy
If you are pregnant, you have likely already gone for a pelvic exam or ultrasound examination. These exams help your health care provider get an idea of the health of your uterus and baby. During these exams, many pregnant women discover that they have uterine fibroids. These masses, which grown in or on the uterus, are typically harmless and cause few complications. Occasionally, however, uterine fibroids can cause problems during pregnancy, so it is a good idea to find out more about their growth.
What are Uterine Fibroids?
Uterine fibroids are large masses made up of tissue cells from your uterus. Actually a type of non-cancerous tumor, fibroids can grow in and around your uterus, distorting the shape and size of this organ. Fibroids typically range in size, from just a few centimeters in length to up to 15 centimeters or more. Fibroid tumors often grow in clusters, so if you have one uterine fibroid, it is likely that you may also have more.
Can Fibroids Affect Your Fertility or Cause Miscarriage?
Fibroids are actually quite common - between 50% and 80% of all women have at least one. For the most part, these fibroids cause no symptoms, though they can be problematic for about 20% of women. Between 10% and 30% of pregnant women also have fibroids. Uterine fibroids are usually discovered during your annual pelvic exam.
Types of Uterine Fibroids
There are three types of uterine fibroids, classified according to where they grow in your uterus.
- Intramural: Intramural fibroids grow inside the wall of your uterus. They are the most common type of fibroids.
- Subserosal: Subserosal fibroids grow on the outside of the uterus, and can swell to large sizes. Sometimes these fibroids grow on a stalk and reach out towards other organs.
- Submucosal: Submucosal fibroids grow inside the uterus. They account for only 5% of all uterine fibroids.
Who Gets Uterine Fibroids?
Uterine fibroids can affect any woman at any age. In fact, if your health care provider looked hard enough, she could probably find a small fibroid in pretty much any woman. However, certain women are at increased risk of developing uterine fibroids. Women between the ages of 20 and 50 are more likely to develop larger fibroids. Women of African descent are also more likely to develop fibroids.
| Table of Contents |
|---|
| 1. Fibroids |
| 2. Are fibroids risky? |
or sign up
Forgot Password?
Post a comment
I had my miscarriage at 20 weeks of pregnancy. A week later when my doctor had me check with ultrasound, she diagnose that i had fibroid. Now im very stress bout this condition. My fibroid is about 3.5 cm long. Can anyone share if had similar case. I afraid if i cant get pregnant if this worsen.
after a year of trying to get pregnant my doctor sent me to a fertility specialist who said i had uterine fibroids and the fibroids were most likely the cause of my infertility. he was able to easily remove the smaller fibroids but had to go in for a second surgery to remove one really large one that was running down the center of my uterus. my doctor now thinks i should be able to get pregnant without any other interference. i hope he is right. he says i should try naturally for the next few months and if nothing happens i should then try an iui. wish me luck!