Does PCOS increases the chances of miscarriage?

Verified by Dr. Vaishali Sakpal Rane (MBBS, DGO Obstetrics and Gynaecology, DNB Obstetrics and Gynaecology)

If you have polycystic ovarian syndrome, worrying about your fertility is not unusual (PCOS). Unfortunately, PCOS not only makes it challenging to become pregnant, but also challenges having a healthy pregnancy.

According to studies, having PCOS increases the chances of miscarriage. You are twice as likely to miscarry if you have PCOS and are receiving assisted reproductive therapy, such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Your risk of miscarriage may rise due to a variety of PCOS-related causes. These consist of: 

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• High insulin levels or insulin resistance
• Higher levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), which can be boosted by higher insulin
• increased amounts of testosterone
• Obesity
• therapies for infertility
• Genetic abnormalities

Through medication or dietary and activity modifications, some of these causes can be avoided or mitigated. If you are attempting to conceive but are having problems, talk to a fertility expert or your healthcare practitioner about possible PCOS-related obstacles to conception.

Working with your healthcare practitioner or a dietitian may help you make improvements to your food and lifestyle, which have a significant impact on altered hormone levels and the PCOS-related concerns mentioned above. In order to treat PCOS, your doctor may occasionally decide to provide anti-diabetic drugs like metformin.

Studies have revealed that metformin has good benefits on lowering miscarriage rates in women with PCOS because insulin levels also appear to play a role in miscarriage, despite the fact that it has historically been used as an oral medication to help control diabetes.

Your doctor may recommend bed rest or pelvic rest if your pregnancy is high-risk. Even though it's unclear whether this can truly stop a miscarriage, it's still better to heed your doctor's advise. Even after repeated losses, it is still possible to have a healthy baby if you do experience a miscarriage.

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