Seven Important Guidelines To Follow When Undergoing In-vitro Fertilization Treatment

A medical institution that aims to deliver treatment and care for couples who are having trouble in conceiving a child or dealing with infertility issues is a jacksonville fertility clinic. Typically, fertility clinics have a step-by-step process for the various medical treatments they conduct on their patients. The most popular procedure done in fertility clinics is in-vitro fertilization (IVF). This medical treatment also involves its own series of steps to follow.

Gynecological check-up

The first step involves the female patient to undergo gynecological checkup to validate her infertility. This procedure is important in determining whether IVF treatment is the best course of action to take.

Patient evaluation

After the testing, the patient is evaluated after confirming her infertility. This step can take as long as one to two months and may be divided into parts. An orientation and education of the couple about IVF treatment precedes any other steps of this treatment. The second part is diagnostic testing where the patient is examined to see if she can indeed get pregnant by IVF treatment.

Carrying out of medications to stimulate the woman’s ovulation

During the onset of the patient’s menstrual cycle, she will be given two hormone medications by the fertility doctor. The first medication regulates the timing of ovulation while the other stimulates the production of the eggs. The two medications are taken through injections daily. During the course of the medication, the patient will also undergo trans-vaginal ultrasounds. The development of the follicles containing the woman’s eggs can be assessed with the help of this. When the doctor finds that the eggs are fully matured and ready to be ovulated, the patient will be given a third medication. Triggering the ovaries to release the eggs is the action of the last medication. This procedure is often carried on the 12th day of the course of the treatment.

Acquiring the eggs

Once the eggs mature, they are retrieved from the woman’s body. The egg retrieval step begins with the doctor administering anesthesia to the patient. The eggs are taken from the follicles and placed into a test tube using a needle. A trans-vaginal ultrasound is also conducted to guide the procedure.

Eggs fertilization and incubation

The retrieved eggs are combined with sperm collected from the husband. Around 60 % of the eggs will be fertilized out of the total number of eggs retrieved. After the fertilization phase, the eggs undergo incubation and close monitoring for a period of about 3 to 5 days.

Implanting the embryo

The resulting embryos from the previous step are evaluated for quality. The desired number of embryos is transferred to the woman’s uterus with the use of an astraumatic catheter. Usually, about 2 to 4 embryos are implanted. Cryopreservation is a means to preserve the unused embryos for future use in case the first attempt at pregnancy is not a success.

Implantation monitoring

To help in the implantation of the embryos, the patient is given progesterone in this step. A pregnancy test is given on the 10th day. The patient can have her prenatal care to her own physician once the pregnancy test turns positive. A new cycle of treatment is conducted if the embryos are not implanted successfully.

Each step is vital to the overall success of the treatment, so they must all be done thoroughly and correctly.