BRENDAN’S BLOG!

Picture of Brendan

Helping you unlock the puzzle of infertility – one story at a time!

Bacterial Vaginosis

Most people have heard of Thrush, but very few are aware of a condition called Bacterial Vaginosis, despite it being twice as common.  It’s implicated in pre-term delivery, and 2nd trimester miscarriage, so this is a serious issue.

Officially BV is caused by an imbalance of bacteria in the vagina and is characterised by a greyish discharge with a mild ‘fishy’ odour (caused by sulfur), and it can occur with or without pain.  It affects 1 in every 3 adult women – that’s a lot! 

Although it is not specifically proven to cause infertility, according to this paper BV exists in up to 45% of women struggling to conceive – that’s also a lot!  Treating vaginosis with antibiotics does improve pregnancy rates – but not by much. 

I see it simply as ‘just another burden’ on the body of a woman struggling to conceive, and so treating it frees them up at least to some degree, and this – for some women – is enough to allow their body to get back on top and re-establish fertility.

Now if you think like I do you will recognise the contradiction in medicine whereby even though doctors know that everything in the body is connected, the dominating mindset is one that regards everything in the body as separate, so it’s no wonder that once a woman is diagnosed with BV the obvious response is to treat them with antibiotics.  It’s the Doctrine of Specific Etiology at work here!

That’s what they did in the above study, and in my opinion that’s why they only saw a small improvement in pregnancy rates.

What is not considered here is how gut bacteria balance determines vaginal bacteria balance, nor how antibiotics mess up gut bacteria balance – thus the very solution used to treat BV is implicated in causing it! This is not an argument against using antibiotics to treat BV, it’s an argument to consider the longer-term effects of living with imbalanced gut bacteria, especially if you are having trouble conceiving.

Sometimes ‘nuking’ the bacteria that cause BV solves the issue and allows the body to get back on top, but if nothing more is done to help establish a good balance of bacteria systemically then the relief is usually temporary, and the can is just kicked down the road. 

The imbalance of bacteria in our gut is caused by the way we live and what we eat – but also crucially by what we don’t eat, so if all we do is nuke infections with antibiotics without fixing the deeper problem – sooner or later the fallout is going to get us.  To complicate matters – antibiotic resistant bacteria will survive the nuking – and take over the empty space making it even harder to restore balance next time.

The key to healing is not sudden shock therapy to correct the course we are on, it’s the willingness to change the little things we do daily which gradually contribute to our long-term problems.  This requires doing something most of us resist – changing our mindset and with it our habits!

In my early days I accepted any client who needed help, but many times I ended up engaged in a sort of arm-twisting game trying to encourage change.  As I matured, I came to realise this is approach was only a pathway to perdition for both of us – so I changed my mind.

Helping clients make the necessary adjustments is great – once they commit to the process, but I had to make a choice to only work with people who volunteer their arm for a gentle twisting first.  Since doing this everything has gotten better, including the results!

Bacterial vaginosis is not the problem – it’s the signpost pointing to the solution!

Share The Post
Share The Post
Share The Post

My mission in life is to help people like you overcome difficult fertility challenges!

To make this overwhelming situation easier I created a program called Return To Fertility which takes away any worries you might have about missing something important on your journey back to fertility.  It comprehensively steps you through the process of optimising your biology for successful conception using natural means – no matter what the underlying issue is.

Return To Fertility has success rates of between 70-80% in any given year – and most of my clients are difficult cases.

If you are interested in learning more about the program then click on the button below and I will send you a free video explaining how it all works including a run down of the costs involved.  If you are interested – we can have a chat!

Talk to you then,

Brendan

*By requesting my free video you will also be joining my newsletter where I send free helpful infertility insights like the one above to many people on the same journey as you. I never sell your information and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.

By entering your email and clicking submit you will be sent a confirmation email. Once you confirm that you will instantly receive another email giving you access to my free video!