Your sexual health issues

Dr Valerie Tagwira, an expert on sexual health, recently answered iVillagers' questions during a web chat on the Periods & Sexual Health messageboard

Dr Tagwira works for the sexual health charity Marie Stopes International. Her work includes discussing and providing contraception, and counselling for young women concerned about sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy.

Is spotting normal?
Why do I bleed after sex?
The question of conception
Do I have PCOS?

Is spotting normal?

My husband and I are going to try for a baby in December. I am 22 and am not taking the contraceptive pill.

Is this spotting normal? Will it affect my fertility? I am very worried.
tinkerbellbaby

Dr Valerie: From the history that you give, I would like to reassure you that there is no indication of anything that may affect your fertility.

Because all the tests have been normal, your doctor is absolutely right about the spotting being normal. Under the influence of hormones, the lining of your womb thickens in preparation to receive a fertilised egg. In the absence of fertilisation, the lining breaks down and you experience a period.

Shedding of the lining of the womb may initially be patchy in some women, resulting in small amounts of brown or faint red loss at the beginning. Again, as the period tails off at the end, it is not unusual to have similar brown loss in small amounts.

From the information that you have provided, there is nothing which suggests the likelihood of you having endometriosis. Although some women with endometriosis have no symptoms, it is typically associated with painful periods, chronic pelvic pain and pain during sex. There is no association with spotting before or after periods.

Leading up to your pregnancy, please maintain a healthy diet and normal weight. If you are a smoker, it would be a great idea to quit smoking as well as to cut down on any alcohol intake so as to have a healthy pregnancy. You should also consider taking folic acid before conception.