Some events change life and one such event changed the world and bought hope to childless couples. This discovery won the Nobel Prize for Dr Patrick Steptoe (the gynaecologist) and Sir Robert Edwards for the first successful birth of a human baby, Louise Brown through In vitro fertilization (IVF). On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown, was the first human life created through IVF, for which Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2010.

It is always a special event to be a mother & father to a healthy child. This process, we will call a reproductive journey. This is a much more complex process. When the couple starts the journey of parenthood & is unable to conceive after 1 year of active sex life, it’s time to get the advice of the experts.

Some medical help is required to start the journey of parenthood. In vitro fertilization or IVF is the process of manually combining sperm with an egg in a laboratory dish for fertilization. The embryo is then transferred to the uterus.

IVF is often used to treat infertility due to a decreased sperm motility or sperm count, ovulation disorders or uterine fibroids, or with individuals who suffer a genetic disorder, which results in infertility.

From stimulation to retrieval, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is a seven-step process, which may be the best option for you and your partner. A consultation allows you to review all your pregnancy options and decide what next steps to take.

In Vitro Fertilization or IVF simply means, if we break the word, In vitro means in glass under experimental conditions or in a laboratory whereas fertilisation is a process of fusing egg & sperm to form an embryo.

IVF is a method of treatment in which the man’s sperm and the woman’s eggs are fused outside the body.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) fertility guidelines make recommendations about who should have access to IVF.

These guidelines recommend that IVF should be offered to women under the age of 43 who have been trying to get pregnant through regular unprotected sex for 2 years. Or who has had 12 cycles of artificial insemination, with at least 6 of these cycles using a method called intrauterine insemination (IUI)?

Pearl women’s hospital & Yash IVF follow these  Step by step procedures for In Vitro Fertilization treatments.

Step 1: Before the scheduling of IVF treatment, females are usually put on birth control pills. These pills are recommended because they reduce the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation & improve the rates of success.

Step 2: The IVF treatment cycle begins the day you start getting your periods. On a subsequent day, a blood test and ultrasound will be arranged. While blood test is done to examine estrogen levels & ultrasound will determine ovary size and detect ovarian cysts if any. If there is a cyst, your doctor will postpone the procedure for the next few days or can suck it with the help of a needle alternatively.

Step 3: After your blood test and ultrasound results are found normal, ovarian stimulation via fertility drugs is the next step. You may require to take 1 to 4 injections per day for around a week depending upon your treatment procedure. The commonly prescribed fertility drugs are CC, Letrozole, HMG, FSH, rFSH, HCG, rHCG, and Cetrorelix inj. etc. Through Ovarian stimulation,  the doctor estimates whether the medication dosage should be increased or not.

STEP 4:

The fourth step of IVF is activating the oocytes for leading them to the final maturation stage for egg retrieval. It is important to estimate the right time of giving the trigger shot and daily ultrasounds help at this point. The human chorionic gonadotropin injection is given when more than 4 follicles grow up to a length of a minimum of 18 mm.

Step 5: After 3 days of receiving the hCG injection, your egg is being retrieved. Before the retrieval process, a Transvaginal ultrasound will be conducted wherein a needle will be inserted via the back side of vagina leading to ovaries.

Step 6: After the Oocytes are retrieved, the embryologist will examine them for the maturation of eggs. However, if the eggs have not matured accurately, they might be stimulated to maturity in the lab.

Step 7: Post 5 days of the retrieval, the fertilized eggs are transmitted to the female uterus via a catheter. The embryos are transferred along with some fluid. After the transfer procedure ends, you are kept under observation for a few hours, and then allowed to go home.

Step 8: After two weeks of the embryo transfer, a pregnancy test is being conducted and if the result is positive, your doctor will put you on progesterone supplements for a few more weeks.

For most patients, IVF is the most effective treatment, but it’s very much underutilized and comes with lots of issues. It is very obvious to measure the success of IVF & most important is to have realistic expectations.

PWH & YASH IVF, fertility hospital at Deccan, Pune comes with transparent practices and uniform protocol. Dr Chaitanya Ganapule & team is committed to women’s health at all phases.

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