What Does Reproductive Health Mean for Men and Women?

You might think that sexual health really has no relevance to your life, especially if you are in a committed long-term relationship, but did you know that reproductive health and wellness actually comes into the sexual health bracket, too? In addition to this, safeguarding your reproductive health can be vital for your wellbeing, as it directly affects not only your reproductive health, but also your health in other areas, your emotional wellbeing, your ability to bear healthy children, and so on.

Reproductive health depends on a number of different factors, including general health, lifestyle choices and age. The inner workings of the female reproductive system are elaborate and complex, and this makes it vulnerable to all kinds of different problems, dysfunctions and diseases.

Reproductive health can affect a number of different organs, including the vagina, cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and breasts. As well as covering a few different areas in the female body, the topic also covers a variety of issues including fertility and infertility, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and birth control.

Disorders can include problems with menstruation, pregnancy problems including babies with low birth weight, babies being born prematurely and problems with the development of babies whilst within the womb.

Non fertility-related problems can include other feminine health issues such as female reproductive cancers such as uterine, cervical or ovarian cancer. Endometriosis is also a debilitating problem that affects female reproductive health. Uterine fibroids also come into this category, and is when non-cancerous tumours form on the wall of the uterus.

Women can take simple steps to protect their reproductive health, such as protecting themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other STDs. This can be achieved by having protected sex at all times, and by being on the lookout for STDs and getting regular checkups, because some have no symptoms and can affect women’s’ fertility.