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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 19, 1996
 
NIEHS CONTACT:
Bill Grigg
(301) 402-3378

19 Jun 1996: NIH Study: Among Women Who Want to Get Pregnant, Douching May Delay Conception

Douching may reduce a woman's chance of getting pregnant in a particular month by about 30 percent, according to a new study.

The study, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, showed that douching-practiced by many women to cleanse and deodorize the vaginal cavity -- is associated with a delay in pregnancy.

Donna Day Baird, Ph.D., epidemiologist of the National Instituteof Environmental Health, Research Triangle Park, N.C., and adjunctprofessor at the University of North Carolina School of PublicHealth, Chapel Hill, conducted the study with Clarice Weinberg,Ph.D., also of NIEHS, and colleagues at the University of Washington.NIEHS is the part of the federal National Institutes of Healththat studies human health, including fertility, as it is impactedby environmental factors.

The authors studied 840 married women from Washington state whohad stopped using contraception and eventually became pregnant.Those who douched, the researchers found, took longer to conceivethan those who did not. The researchers looked at other personaland environmental factors such as smoking, alcohol intake andmedical background but, even after adjusting for other factorsthat affect fertility, found that women who douched were lesslikely to conceive in any given month of trying.

The reduction in fertility associated with douching was strongerin young women, 18 to 24, in whom douching was associated witha 50 percent reduction in monthly fertility. The estimated reductionin month fertility was 29 percent in women who were 25 to 29,and 6 percent for women 30 to 39.

A 1988 national survey found 37 percent of women between 15 and44 douched, and 18 percent did so at least once a week. Blackswere twice as likely as whites -- 67 percent versus 32 percent-todouche and did so more often.

The researchers found that, among women who wanted to become pregnant,those who douched most frequently (more than once a week) hadthe lowest pregnancy rate: Twenty-seven percent were not pregnantafter a year. In contrast, only 10 percent of those who neveror rarely douched were still not pregnant after a year.

"In our data, we found no evidence that commercial preparationsproduced any greater reduction in fertility than a combinationof water and vinegar prepared at home," Dr. Baird said. "Evenwater alone was associated with significant reduction in fertility.This suggests that the mechanical process of douching per se mayhave adverse effects."

Earlier research showed flushing the vagina with water and otherliquids reduced the number of beneficial bacteria. Another investigationsuggested that the practice might mechanically propel harmfulbacteria and other organisms to the cervix, causing infection.

"Further study of vaginal douching is needed, including investigationof mechanisms by which douching might reduce fertility,"Dr. Baird wrote. "Douching is viewed by many women in theUnited States, especially black women, as an accepted femininehygiene practice.

"Given the reported associations with pelvic infections,tubal pregnancies and infertility, women need to be informed thatdouching may have adverse effects."

Lynda F. Voight, Ph.D., and Janet R. Daling, Ph.D., of the Universityof Washington School of Public Health at Seattle collaboratedin the research.

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