Fibroids are noncancerous growths that develop in the walls of the womb of a childbearing woman and are more common in the older age group of 30 to 40 years.
Though the cause of fibroids is unknown, a family history, ethnicity (black people), female hormones (estrogen and progesterone), obesity, or eating lots of red meat while taking fewer fruits or vegetables may increase the risk of fibroids.
Much as pregnancy and childbirth may protect a woman from getting fibroids, it is not true that taking long to get pregnant may cause fibroids. Instead, the presence of fibroids may delay a woman from getting pregnant.
Though many Ugandans believe that fibroids cause infertility, many women with fibroids can get pregnant and deliver a normal baby. That said, whether fibroids cause infertility or not may depend more on their location than their size, with small fibroids (two to three centimetres) in the inner lining of the womb (submucosal) being associated with not getting pregnant, while large ones (more than five to six centimetres) may not, especially if they are on the womb’s outer surface.
Though pregnancy and childbirth, apart from long-term use of oral or injectable contraceptives, may reduce the likelihood of fibroids, you need to visit your doctor, who may decide to use the most effective and safest method to deal with the fibroids so that they do not cause complications such as infertility.
The surgery will remove the fibroids while leaving the uterus intact for better pregnancy outcomes. The surgery will also deal with complications of fibroids, including heavy bleeding, a distorted womb cavity, and blocked fallopian tubes, among others, which may lead to infertility.
It is true that in many cases, surgery to remove fibroids, after checking whether the tubes are open or whether your husband has any fertility issues, could be ideal for you.
Since there are no drugs that can permanently eliminate fibroids, you may be given drugs for symptoms such as heavy bleeding and those that only temporarily shrink fibroids before surgery is done.
Though fibroids do not grow back after surgery, one may develop new fibroids, requiring that you get pregnant quickly after surgery (after three to six months to give the uterus time to heal).