Dr Richa Sharma & Dr. Amit Basnotra
IVF has become a much talked about procedure these days and to add to it mushrooming of IVF centres even in small towns. Definitely it makes tertiary treatment accessible but at other end it creates dilemma in minds of patients as to which centre and which doctor they should see exactly
IVF involves IVF clinic and IVF (Embryology) Lab. So when all things are in place under one roof and treating physicians acquire required knowledge and skills then we can expect results as per expectations.
Out Of all steps of IVF , final and deciding factors is the Embryo Transfer. So via this blog I am going to throw light on to help to have transparent and ethical guidance.
Embryo transfer is most crucial and important procedure in IVF.
Deciding factors
Good IVF Laboratory culture environment
Skills of an IVF clinician
The success of IVF cycle depends upon smooth placement of the embryos near the middle of the cavity of your womb preferably under Ultrasound guidance.It has to be atraumatic and presence of pain has to be ruled out in prior work up only as else its going to spoil all hard work at end and that may sometimes needs interventions in form of-
* Mock or Trial Embryo Transfer
* Hysteroscopy (Diagnostic/Operative)
For the IVF process, the woman is stimulated with injectable medications to increase the number of eggs. Eggs develop in the follicles in the ovaries. The egg retrieval procedure removes the eggs from ovaries when the follicles were matured. Sperm is added to those eggs and the next day we observe the eggs for proof of fertilization.
Procedure -How its Done?
Embryo Transfer (ET) Is generally done without anaesthesia but in difficult cases you may be given anesthesia which will be decided by your treating physician based on your current and past clinical history. So 90% of information can be gathered from basics only if proper work up is done.So each step counts in the journey of parenthood.So doctor and patient have to work as team practically speaking.
The embryo transfer catheter is loaded with the embryos and the physician will pass it through the cervical opening up to the center of the uterine cavity. The abdominal ultrasound is used at the same time to observe the catheter tip advance to the proper location and it is sometimes hard to keep the tip of the catheter in the correct plane of the ultrasound beam but it is significant to manage the proper placement of the embryos.
How many No of embryos permitted in IVF?
The number of embryos to be transferred will be decided after discussion of Doctor with the couple and the embryologist regarding the embryo quality .Couple should be informed about risks for multiple pregnancies versus the risk of failing to conceive at all. As female age increases, the implantation rate of the embryos tends to decline. Besides, that Certain guidelines are followed as per age and law decision is taken besides the clinical judgement.
(The authors are senior IVF Consultant Mumbai and Senior Gastrogentrologist)
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