Pregnancy Pathway, Conception — Prior Sperm Exposure

Today:  Sperm!!!

For com­plete graphic, see Feb. 5 or 23 post.

The mother’s prior sperm expo­sure can affect her pregnancy.

Not every sperm is your friend! Sperm expo­sure — like so many expo­sures — affects our immune sys­tem. Women who have babies with more than one father may be at risk for dis­or­ders of preg­nancy because the chal­lenges to their immune sys­tem have been exten­sive. And, very young women who become preg­nant are at increased risk of some dis­or­ders because they have had very lit­tle expo­sure to sperm.

In addi­tion, women who have pri­mar­ily and exten­sively used bar­rier meth­ods of con­tra­cep­tion may be at risk for dis­or­ders for rea­sons sim­i­lar to young women with lit­tle expo­sure. Unlike women whose immune sys­tem has had too much chal­lenge due to preg­nan­cies by sev­eral men, women with lit­tle expo­sure may not have a strong defense against for­eign DNA. Please do not take this as a rea­son to not use a con­dom — one of the bar­rier meth­ods along with a diaphragm and cer­vi­cal cap. Rather, if you use a bar­rier method of con­tra­cep­tion, keep in mind that your body’s adjust­ment to preg­nancy may take time.

For more infor­ma­tion on bar­rier meth­ods, to go the Amer­i­can Col­lege of Obste­tri­cians and Gyne­col­o­gists’ online pam­phlet: ACOG Pam­phlet on Bar­rier Con­tracetp­tion.

Another way sperm can affect the preg­nancy is that the com­bi­na­tion of the mother’s and father’s nat­ural immune responses may be strong against the tro­phoblast implan­ta­tion. This is not some­thing  you can know ahead of time. Also, women are eight times more likely than men to develop autoim­mune dis­or­ders. One rea­son may be the pre­na­tal expo­sure to for­eign DNA encoun­tered in pregnancy.

Keep in mind that by get­ting good pre­na­tal care, exer­cise, suf­fi­cient rest, stress man­ag­ment and healthy nutri­tion, you do all within your power to have a healthy preg­nancy. Your health care provider will deter­mine your risk fac­tors that may affect preg­nancy out­come and treat you in an appro­pri­ate manner.

Moms and babies enjoy exer­cise together!

Once your baby comes, there will be time to max­i­mize health for both of you. Exer­cis­ing together is great fun!

Get­ting there may require some patience, but the reward is well worth it.

When you are look­ing around for sperm, use your head. The same behav­ior that pro­tects you from infec­tions you never want to get, pro­tects you from sperm you don’t really want to meet. When the time comes to adopt some sperm, find out about it’s credentials!