PCOS pregnancy - will I have a misscarriage?

[Ttc321]

Hi all, I'm finally pregnant at age 21 after trying for years and never succeeding due to my PCOS. I have had all of the horrible symptoms of PCOS aswell :-(
I finally found out I was pregnant 5 days ago - I was so elated! So happy and excited and just over the moon! - only untill I started having a look online and was totally scared by seeing all of the statistics etc of a high risk of misscarriage if I have PCOS, im so worried about it now and scared!!! Am I at more of a risk?? How can I prevent it from happening, should I start metformin?
Thank you all for looking

[UppityHumpty]

Metformin and folic acid. Start it straight away. And ensure your midwife is aware that your pcos makes you 'high risk'. You'll get more check ups. You also should have a doppler. Congratulations - hopefully nothing goes wrong but if you have further checks it will be great.

[FluffyEwok]

My midwife told me I'm at no higher risk of miscarriage due to Pcos but higher risk of gestational diabetes. I'm on metformin and folic acid.

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

Why don't you talk to your doctor, they are best placed to advise on management of your condition? I haven't required any special treatment for pcos in pregnancy and was advised to stop taking metformin.

UppityHumpty do the normal warnings against having a Doppler not apply in pcos?

[UppityHumpty]

I was told three months ago that nhs guidance is that women with pcos are considered high risk for preclampsia, still births, miscarriages, and gestational diabetes. I'm going to go the IVF route and so was being advised by my gaene. She said if I did get pregnant I'd have her and a midwife at most appointments. She says the metformin and folic acid is a minimum and that the met would probably need to be taken for the first 3-6 months as a minimum.

I have milder pcos. I'm overweight but not obese. I have no family history of these conditions. I got a second and third opinion - all of the nhs gaenes said the same thing.

[UppityHumpty]

The doppler is 'essential' apparently because of the increased risk of still birth. All three of the gaenes I spoke with recommended it.

[Highmaintenancefemalestuff]

I have pcos which was diagnosed after the birth of my first child, I have all the horrible symptoms too. When I was pg with dc2 I Googled, big, big mistake! My midwife wasn't concerned in the slightest and told me I was of no higher risk.
Congratulations on your pregnancy.

[Allthebubbles]

I took metformim, and folic acid but normal dose not high level.

[JanuaryJuniper]

This is my 4th pregnancy (I had one miscarriage)

For this pregnancy and my last I have been on metformin (1,500ml daily) high dose folic acid and progesterone supplements to keep me pregnant.

I have gestational diabetes in this and my previous pregnancy. I'm considered high risk and getting fantastic care.

In my first pregnancy I had none of this but ended up with pre eclampsia.

[Ttc321]

I did ask my GP if there is anything I can do and she told me no, I asked her if there is anything I can take to prevent misscarriage with my condition, she said no.. just folic acid. She told me that the hard part is getting pregnant, not being pregnant and sent me away but now I beg to differ due to the story's i have read online and all of the statistics and possibility of being "high risk" due to PCOS. Can I start metformin although I haven't been taking it or can it cause damage?

[sherbertlemon17]

Hey TTC! Congratulations on you pregnancy, you must be so excited! Please take the advice above with a pinch of salt... we are people on the internet and (assuming) not trained Drs and midwives who know your individual circumstances with PCOS. It is one of those syndromes where the symptoms and treatments can really vary from person to person, so what you might be advised to do, could be completely different to those posting above.

I have PCOS too, and in my circumstance am no higher risk than someone without PCOS and definitely was not advised to use a Doppler. I think quite the opposite. This is my 2nd pregnancy and no change his time from last time.

Please speak to your Dr before worrying, I know easier said than done and definitely don't think about taking any medication you haven't been prescribed before speaking to them. Good Luck and a healthy 9 months

[Daisy17]

I have PCOS and have never been treated as higher risk in any way with either of my pregnancies for that.

[Daisy17]

Both pregnancies were problem free and resulted in healthy babies.

[ILoveMyMonkey]

Pcos pregnancy here, wasn't given any metformin just took folic acid. Had a few issues with bleeding early on but didn't miscarry and now have a healthy 4 and a half year old. I also didn't get any extra checks or attention because of the pcos my pregnancy was treated like anybody elses.

Stop googling and just enjoy.

[someblondegirl]

I'm also currently pregnant following pcos and I have never been told I'm higher risk. Higher risk of gestational diabetes, yes, but I've got a GTT next week which will answer that. But the midwives have never mentioned it other than that, I've had a perfect pregnancy so far!
Honestly, please try not to worry. As a pp has said, the pcos makes it harder to get pregnant but I've never had any advice regarding making it more difficult to stay pregnant. You've done it now and congratulations! Enjoy!

[SockQueen]

There is some evidence of a slightly higher miscarriage risk but as you can see, plenty of women with PCOS do have healthy babies!

I wasn't told to use metformin, did have to have a GTT because of higher risk of gestational diabetes (it was normal) and had a couple of growth scans and consultant appointments, but otherwise it was all very unexciting and my labour itself was midwife-led. I don't know of any obstetricians who would recommend you have your own Doppler, they cause more problems than they solve in the wrong hands.

[notomatoes]

I'm a bit shocked by some of the "advice" I've just read. I'm sure it's well meant but please please talk to you doctor/midwife about what is important for you.

I was not told to get a Doppler () but I was tested for gestational diabetes as PCOS can cause that.

[UppityHumpty]

Can you get a referral to a gaene OP? Appreciate that many of the posters here were told other things by their midwives, but I've been given completely different advice presumably because guidelines have changed. I don't want you to get misleading advice or to lose out.

[LillyPillly]

I have PCOS and have 3 beautiful, healthy boys. It was a struggle to get pregnant, but each pregnancy was great - until I got pre-eclampsia at the very end of each pregnancy so please do watch out for that!
I had a doppler too, it was great for peace of mind.

[Missmac84]

@Ttc321 I suffer with PCOS and had no idea that it meant I would be at high risk of miscarriage.
I've had 2 healthy pregnancies and children so don't always trust or read too much into what you see on google.
Trust your dr and midwife xxx
Enjoy your pregnancy and stop stressing! xxx

[sherbertlemon17]

Uppity I'm currently 18 weeks and the guidelines are still the same. Everyone is different, so it seems you may have needed extra monitoring that the OP may not.

Always speak to your GP or midwife if youre worried TTC.

[notomatoes]

Uppity I am also currently pregnant so the advice I have been given is not out of date.

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

I'm pregnant too and although consultant led for a history of preeclampsia, pcos has made no difference in this pregnancy. I haven't even had a GTT this time.

[SockQueen]

Uppity are you in the UK? I don't know any gynaecologists/obstetricians who recommend them. There is no evidence AFAIK that home Dopplers reduce stillbirth risk.

Current NICE guidance does not recommend metformin, and doesn't mention a Doppler - cks.nice.org.uk/polycystic-ovary-syndrome#!scenariorecommendation:11 (scroll down to the pregnancy section)