Camille came to visit me today to show me her gorgeous daughter Arina, now 9 months old, and to discuss the next step in getting pregnant with child number 2.

I first meet her and husband Peter back in 2007 with a history of having no menstrual periods since stopping her contraceptive pill 12 months earlier. All her tests confirmed the diagnosis of PCOS.

The fallopian tube tests and semen tests were normal. So lack of ovulation (called anovulatory infertility) was the main cause for their infertility.

Back then Camille was in the overweight range with a body mass index of 29 (normal 19-25, my fertility book discusses BMI in detail). Due to back problems she could not undertake any physical activity to get her weight down.

In 2007 I started her on the fertility treatment tablet Clomid (Clomiphene Citrate) to help induce ovulation of her eggs from the ovary. But despite increasing doses of Clomid over 3 cycles her ovaries did not respond ( see Clomid in Fertility Treatment section) and treatment was therefore stopped.

During this time Camille commenced back treatment and managed to lose 5 kg by increasing exercise and dietary changes. With great delight 4 months later her menstrual cycle had returned to a regular pattern. I received a phone call from her to say she was pregnant and had conceived spontaneously.

I just love hearing pregnancy stories like this.

Just by losing weight and getting her body mass index down to a healthy number for pregnancy, Camille’s menstrual cycle switched back on and she started ovulating in a regular fashion… which of course lead to getting pregnant with PCOS spontaneously.

Studies on women with PCOS have proven that by losing 5%-10% of body weight can improve cycle regularity, ovulation and  increase pregnancy chances.