Unraveling the Link: Cesarean Scars and Fertility Challenges Explained

Many people in the medical community feel that if you have fallen pregnant once with a full term baby with no other complications, you can do it again.

That is, unfortunately not always the case, and this is especially seen after a cesarean birth.

A study conducted in 2020 of over 2,000 females noted that women were 15% less likely to conceive after having a cesarean compared to those who gave birth vaginally.

The driving factor?

Scar tissue!

This is not news to me, as I see women with this issue and many are able to conceive naturally after extensive scar mobilization.

Let’s take a closer look at how scar tissue from a cesarean can impact your fertility.

Scarring is a tissue that was formed to mend injured or lacerated tissue. It lacks the same amount of flexibility and elasticity and can act like a barrier for proper function of the surrounding tissue. When this occurs in the abdomen or pelvis it can lead to:

Reduced blood flow to the reproductive organs impacting hormones. Your hormones are the catalyst of your fertility, especially those that drive ovulation and uterine lining preparation. If these hormones are unable to communicate with the ovaries or the uterus due to poor circulation your fertility will be impacted.

Digestion troubles. The way your digest food and eliminate food waste can also impact your fertility. When running smoothly your gut has a rhythm to move the food along, eliminated toxins, excess hormones and food waste while absorbing the necessary nutrients needed for further detoxification, healing, brain & muscle function and other metabolic processes. If this rhythm is disrupted due to tough scar tissue it can cause a gut dysbiosis (or alteration in the gut microbiome), which has been linked to fertility issues from [again] hormones changes.

Muscle tissue restrictions. When abdominal and pelvic floor muscles are restricted from scar tissue inhibiting fiber lengthening and contracting it can lead to several things that can impact fertility. First, these restrictions can cause pain, most notably painful sex. If sex is painful, you won’t want to have it to conceive or it will be too stressful to “push” through the pain and your body will react with stress hormones that happy conceiving hormones. Second, your core muscles structurally support your reproductive and digestive organs. When the muscles that support are not working optimally, neither will the organs they support. Think of when you’ve been bloated, is it harder or easier to use your abdominal muscles? Probably harder. This is similar to how scar tissue can impact the muscles.

Everyone brings a uniqueness to conceiving, and what may be preventing it. Scar tissue is likely only one factor that is playing a roll in secondary infertility, which is usually multifactoral. However, if you are having a hard time conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy and you had a cesarean, it is worth exploring scar mobilization and other strategies that influence scarring.