Baby Boom Women Confronting Pelvic Health Conditions

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The number of women 40 to 49 years old who are having hysterectomies is a "secret in plain view," added Henrick Harwood, a vice president of the Lewin Group, which prepared the report for the NWHRC. "It's estimated that at least 25 percent of boomers will have a hysterectomy by the age of 60," he said.

What makes Baby Boom women turn to hysterectomies, the same treatment their mothers and grandmothers underwent, when better, newer options are available?

"That's the real question," said Dr. William H. Parker, an obstetrician and gynecologist and clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine.

"The numbers still haven't changed," Parker said, despite such surgical advances as myomectomy, which removes the fibroid rather than the entire uterus, and endometrial ablation, which destroys a thin layer of the uterine lining. "It's shocking," he added.

Parker said some women may not turn to the newer treatments, which have a quicker recovery time and preserve the uterus and ovaries, because the doctor who delivered their children and whom they've seen for 20 years recommended a hysterectomy.

Many doctors, Parker added, aren't trained to do the newer surgeries, insurance companies may not reimburse for them, or women may simply not be aware of them.

"A major part of my practice is giving second and third opinions because women are not getting the information they want," Parker said.

There are other factors that may compel women to continue to have unnecessary hysterectomies.

Dr. David Archer, a reproductive endocrinologist at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, said endometrial ablation may not always be the cure for heavy bleeding, called menorrhagia. "The improvement in blood loss may not mean no blood loss at all," he explained. He added that, with a hysterectomy, the bleeding stops, so some women may choose that option to get it over with.

The report said an estimated 33 percent of Baby Boom women have stress urinary incontinence, but only about 47 percent of all women have ever asked their doctor about it. Many women don't realize that treatment may be as simple as floor exercises or biofeedback, or that surgical interventions are also available, the report said.

Some statistics show that as many as 40 percent of women between the ages of 50 and 79 have some form of pelvic prolapse, the report added. But only about 10 percent to 20 percent of women seek medical care, which includes surgical and non-surgical treatments, the report added.

More information

To learn more about the report, visit the National Women's Health Resource Center.