Janet Ogundepo Gynaecologists and public health experts have strongly cautioned against believing the misconception that pregnancy can cure menstrual pain, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and other female hormonal disorders. They said this call following a recent social media post centred which encouraged women to get pregnant to cure certain illnesses. The conversation, which started on X, formerly Twitter, began when a public health expert Dr Babatunde Adewumi, with the handle, @enodamade, tweeted to dispel the unfounded belief that pregnancy could cure certain ailments in women.
The tweet prompted many women to share their experiences of being advised by “doctors” to get pregnant as a cure for menstrual pain, PCOS and Hyperprolactinemia. According to a health blog, Cleveland Clinic, the health condition, Hyperprolactinemia, is caused by a higher-than-normal level of prolactin in one’s blood. Prolactin is a hormone responsible for milk production, lactation and breast tissue development.
Women with this condition have milky nipple discharge and menstrual irregularities. According to the World Health Organisation, PCOS is a hormonal imbalance in which the ovaries produce an abnormal amount of male sex hormones, leading to irregular periods, weight gain, facial hair and ovarian cysts. The WHO states that PCOS affects about 8-13 per cent of women in their reproductive age and is the leading cause of infertility.
In one of the replies to the tweet, a user, Folaaa who tweeted @d.
