Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Conceiving with a Tipped Uterus | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
My wife has a tipped uterus. We've heard that the only way we can get pregnant is by having sex in the hands-and-knees position, but that's difficult for us to do. We'd like to know if there is another position better suited for a woman with a tipped uterus.
Also, would being in a pool or bathwater interfere with conception?— AlnBeth in Hauppauge, NY | | | ANSWER |
November 20, 2001 | | | Dear AlnBeth,
Having a tipped uterus is fairly common, affecting about 15 percent of women. In most women, the top of the uterus--that is, the point that is farthest from the cervix--is bent at a right angle to the cervix. When the top of the uterus (also referred to as the fundus) is tipped up over the cervix, it is called anteflexed or anteverted. But if the fundus is behind the cervix, it appears to tip backward and is referred to as retroverted or retroflexed.
In the past, there were a lot of myths about the tipped uterus, including that it interfered with conception. But those have been shown to be false. For most women, the position of the uterus doesn't cause any symptoms or prevent pregnancy. Despite what you may have been told, there is no particular sexual position necessary to conceive with a tipped uterus.
In general, conception simply requires that sperm are delivered near the cervix at the right time of the ovulation cycle. Most well-timed acts of vaginal intercourse that include ejaculation will result in pregnancy, and being immersed in water won't lessen your odds.
One word of caution about baths and hot tubs, though. Testicles naturally hang outside the body in order to keep the sperm-making apparatus cooler than body temperature. Because of this, sitting in a warm bath before sex may not be good for the sperm and in some cases can interfere with getting pregnant.
For more information about whether you and your wife need to take any special action to try to get pregnant, see our article What is Infertility.— by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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