Thinking of learning how to douche? You might have to put your thinking cap as vaginal douching can have profound impact on pregnancies. It is a procedure where water or other liquids are squirt into your vagina in order to clean it. For centuries women have been using vaginal douching products and the main reason provided by them was for personal hygiene. Most of them have learned the art from their mothers.

Douches are mysterious products found on the shelves of drug stores and all this is for a good reason. Most of the vagina are in a happy balance state where bacteria with numerous microorganisms reside to form a healthy environment. You have no right to mess up things with a simple douche!

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Douching and Pregnancy

If you are planning to conceive, there is ample evidence to reveal with douching it is going to be a wee bit difficult. A study points to the fact women who douched have 30 % less chance of being pregnant in comparison to women who did not. It is not that douching cannot be rated to an effective form of birth control.

In fact vaginal douching is still prevalent among women. They have been conveyed by their peersit is a healthy practice of preventing vaginal odour, infections and diminishes chances of being pregnant. What though women are not aware is that chances of bacterial infections increase? If you are sexually active, then the chances of sperm floating around would diminish with douching.

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If you douche once a week, it makes your chances of becoming pregnant all the more difficult. Research states that if you douche after sex it is not going to prevent you from pregnancy. Along with it douching does pose a risk of ectopic pregnancy that is going to make conception a difficult task in the future. In terms of figures it increases by as high as 76 % whereby outside of the uterus an embryo is planted. . More a woman is into douching, higher the risk of ectopic pregnancy. If you douche during pregnancy the chances of premature delivery also increases.

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Disadvantages posed by douching

In short, the risks associated with douching outnumber the benefits. The problems that spring up with douching are

• Vaginal infections- with douching the normal balance of your vagina are altered termed as vaginal flora. An environment conducive for the growth of bacteria emerges. When you are prone to vaginal infections, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and premature delivery increases.
• Cervical cancer- if you douche once in a week, there is a risk of cervical cancer.
• Vaginal douching increases the exposure of women to phthalates. This works out to be a chemical that is used to soften plastics in toys. Phthalates leads to developmental and behavioural issues in babies.

Studies on vaginal douching and the outcomes

In a study that was conducted on 141 women in Los Angeles, relating to vaginal douching interesting results emerged. 6 out of 10 African American women and 4 out of 10 Latin American women douched during the same period of study. The obvious fact is that African American women are more prone to douching than their counterparts. Most of them went on to state that they did learn the art from their mothers.

Though it is considered necessary for good hygiene, but it alters the balance of good and bad bacteria in your vagina.

Should a woman opt for douching?

As per the viewpoint of health experts, you need to keep away from douching on all counts. A certain amount of vaginal odour is ok. An infection would be brewing in the corner and acidity levels in your vagina will control bacteria.

So what is one supposed to do in order to clean their vagina? You can wash the outside of it when you are having a bath with warm water. From the inside it is better that the vagina goes on to clean itself by the process of mucus.

In a nutshell, vaginal douche is going to do more harm than good. In spite of harping on positive effects of douching, no medical reason would enable you to resort to douching. If your doctor harps on douching, pose them relevant questions and ask them the benefits.

A vagina is not supposed to smell like a rose garden. On a word of caution you can get in touch with your health care provider if you notice a thick vaginal discharge accompanied by redness, swelling or dryness in and around the vagina.

Read More:Vaginal Discharge During Pregnancy: Ultimate Guide

References

https://www.thebump.com/a/douche-pregnancy

https://blog.pregistry.com/vaginal-douche/