” Sometimes in my pursuit of perfect clarity I go totally OTT. But when you know that for women diagnosed with Postpartum thyroiditis it was likely to have been missed or misattributed for months to, ‘You’ve had a baby! Of course you’re…(insert adjective)!’, yet for up to 50% it will result in permanent hypothyroidism…well I guess PPT is a good reason to go OTT.”
The above quote is by Rachel Arthur, who has over 30 years of experience in the clinic, is a sought-after international speaker at medical conferences, one of the top practitioners and educators in integrative nutrition and health.
I have written other blogs on this site about how thyroid health relates to fertility as well as the importance of testing prior to conception.
Rachel goes on to say: Postpartum thyroiditis is said to affect 1 in 20 Australian women but in reality the rates are much higher and the risk much greater in many of our patients. Given up to 50% of patients diagnosed with PPT will end up with permanent hypothyroidism, a risk assessment radar that works in real time to better predict, pre-empt and prevent the condition is essential.”
So, WHY is it that most doctors (and this includes General Practitioners as well as Obstetricians) often refuse to test a woman’s thyroid health when she seeks guidance for pre-pregnancy (or even thoughout pregnancy)? That’s one question that I cannot answer and which I find incredibly frustrating.
Knowing whether your thyroid needs support before falling pregnant is a great way to prevent issues later on. For example, I explain the link between thyroid health and pre-eclampsia. Fundamentally, everything that happens in our body is intricately interlinked – stress, thyroid, adrenals, reproductive health – which is why women need to be assessed properly during the pre-conception phase.
There’s a lot of biochemistry going on in your body throughout and after pregnancy which I will not go into here. Suffice to say that pregnancy presents a ‘stress’ situation for the thyroid. It is essential that you insist on regular thyroid assessment prior to and throughout pregnancy, as well as afterwards.
The good news is that if identified early, it CAN be prevented and treated.
If you would like to learn more or need the support of someone who understands the importance of testing, please use the contact form to submit your questions.
