Louise Brown, born in 1978, became the world’s first baby to be born by in-vitro fertilization. The human reproductive industry has revolutionized after that.

Given that approximately 1 in 8 couples face difficulty while conceiving babies and that homosexual couples and single parents often need clinical help to make a baby, the demand for IVF has been on a steady rise. 

IVF is so common that more than 5 million babies have been conceived through this technology. Now, 5 million babies born through IVF procedures might sound like a huge number but you should note that there are always complications with these procedures. And the chances of it being successful are lower than what you might expect given the fact how expensive it is.

There have been multiple studies that show that women under the age of 35 that get an IVF procedure done have a 39.6% chance of having a baby, while women over the age of 40 have an 11.5% chance of successfully giving birth to a child. But there are some things that you can do to turn these odds in your favor. That’s what this article from http://shoreivf.com/ is all about. Lets jump right into it.

1. Diet:

It is very difficult to study the impact of diet on IVF success. The proof that diet and dietary changes have an impact is not strong but these are easy and simple steps to follow.

Stick to a Mediterranean diet. 

A 2008 study found that patients who adhered most closely to a Mediterranean-style diet had higher pregnancy rates as well as higher delivery rates compared to patients who did not follow that diet. What is a Mediterranean diet? 

A Mediterranean diet is when you include fruits and vegetables for every meal, eat whole grains like wheat, corn oats, barley, and quinoa on a daily basis. Have eggs, cheese, and yogurt daily. Choose whole foods over processed foods to maintain a healthy weight and choose a vitamin that helps improve your IVF and sperm health.

Make sure you have fish or any other types of seafood at least twice a week. Avoid having red meat or sweets.

2. Go for a Frozen Embryo Transfer:

In the past several years the technology for the frozen embryo transfer has improved tremendously, survival rates upon thawing have never been higher and the pregnancy rates upon using frozen embryos have skyrocketed. We now have proof that the chance for a first-time IVF success with a frozen embryo is higher than with the fresh embryo transfer. 

Now, why is this true? With several new freezing methods now available, the embryos are essentially the same whether fresh or frozen. The difference is in the uterus, when you stimulate the ovaries in a fresh cycle, changes in the uterus might interfere with implantation. These changes are more easily controlled on a frozen embryo transfer cycle.

3. Uterine cavity evaluation:

There are 3 ways to evaluate the uterine cavity, HSG (Hysterosalpingography), Saline Ultrasound, and hysteroscopy. 

4. Optimize the Stimulation of the Ovaries: 

To get the best quality eggs, the ovaries need to be stimulated with two different hormones FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Luteinizing Hormone). Either of these medications will work perfectly well with your IVF procedure.

LH however is a little trickier when FSH is injected into your body it lasts a long time as it’s highly stable. When LH is injected however the body breaks it down very quickly so if you are using a source of LH like Menopure it’s difficult to know if you’ll get the LH effect that you want. Here’s a little secret, LH is very similar to the hormone HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin). They both act at the same receptors in cells, in many cases LH and HCG do the same thing HCG, however, has a little extra piece that LH doesn’t have. 

5. Use the Right Kind of Progesterone: 

When doing a frozen embryo transfer you first need to prepare two medications, estrogen (to get the uterine lining thicker) and progesterone (to make the lining receptive to an embryo). 

Now you might be wondering how you would introduce those two hormones in your body? What is the best method and would there be any side effects to doing it?

Right off the bat, I have to tell you that there are no side effects to this because both of these hormones are naturally produced in your body. Now speaking of how you can introduce them in your body, according to the research, there doesn’t seem to be a perfect way to do that. Whether you inject it into your body or wear a patch, the results are similar. 

The researchers split the women into 3 groups – The first group only took vaginal progesterone, the second group used vaginal progesterone along with a daily injection of progesterone, the 3rd group used both, vaginal progesterone and progesterone injection every three days. They found that the first group had very low pregnancy rates, so much so that they decided to stop the injections even before the study was over. 

However, there was no difference in the second and third group results. So if you want to take both, vaginal progesterone and progesterone injections every 3 days, that is perfectly fine as well. But again, this is just a suggestion. You should always consult your fertility doctor to tell you what is best for you and what you should be doing.

6. Timing the Embryo Transfer: 

Timing your embryo transfer is crucial to make sure that your uterus is receptive to it. That is why more IVF doctors do an ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Array) test to figure out what the perfect timing would be for the woman.

For more women, the optimal time to place an embryo that is in the blastocyst stage into the uterus is on the 6th day of progesterone. Every woman is different. For some, transferring the embryo on the 6th might work perfectly, while for others that might not work at all. And for women that this timing does not work, there are certain tests like the ERA that can be done to determine the perfect time to transfer the embryo without having any complications.

Although not all women should take this test before their first attempt. This test is best for women who’ve already had multiple failed transfer attempts. However, there are some circumstances where it might make sense to do it before the first attempt.