A midwifery officer with the Tema Poly Clinic, Vivian Tetey has advised that untreated sexually transmitted infections can pose serious fertility risk for couples.
According to her, Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common. People who have an STI often have no symptoms and can therefore have the infection for some time without being diagnosed or treated.
She spoke to Rev. Asenso on Plan B FM family, relationship, and lifestyle program dubbed ‘Nyansapo Fie’. She stated that STIs like chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, and mycoplasma genitalium can cause fertility problems if they are not properly attended to.
“Sexually transmitted infections can affect your ability to have children if left untreated, even an asymptomatic STI can lead to scarring on the reproductive tracts of both men and women, leading to infertility. Infections can go untreated and unnoticed for years, so it’s vital that you get regular checks to preserve your ability to have children. Chlamydia is one of the top two causes of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease – an illness that doubles your risk of infertility. Chlamydia can cause “silent” infections in the upper genital tract, which can cause permanent damage/scarring to your fallopian tubes, uterus and other organs critical to baby-making. The majority of people with chlamydia show no signs of infection at all. But some notable symptoms include pelvic pain or unusual spotting and discharge in women, swollen or tender testicles in men and pain during sex for both men and women” she explained.
She also said constant engagement in unprotected and indiscriminate sex can cause infertility. Unsafe abortion can also be a cause for infertility among couples.
Discussion about this post