Author: Dr. Anil Pinto
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| Dr. Anil Pinto |
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an umbrella term that describes many techniques performed to artificially assist a woman in attaining pregnancy. It involves a step-by-step approach attempted each month, in accordance with a woman’s menstrual cycle. Success in IVF may require many cycles, with each cycle estimated to cost around $12,400 in the US, making it a time-consuming and expensive treatment plan. While, skill and experience of your IVF specialist plays a major role in the success of treatment, it is worthwhile to support the process with individual chances that can help improve your chances of success, especially when you are investing so much of time, effort and money on this treatment.
Some of the simple precautionary steps you can take to boost your IVF success rate include:
- Get around 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. Your chances of conception would be higher than those who sleep for less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours each night.
- IVF may take many cycles to achieve pregnancy. The anticipation at the end of each cycle is a major stressor and a primary cause for drop-outs. While stress is known to lower rates of fertility, it can also be a cause for low success rates with IVF.
- Maintaining a healthy weight is also important while undergoing treatment. It is not advisable to opt for IVF when you are underweight, overweight or obese.
- Although there is no proven diet that can get you pregnant with IVF, experts say that a healthy balanced diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits and lean proteins can keep your system healthy for the treatment.
- The right amounts of vitamin D, either from exposure to the sun’s rays or through supplements has been found to improve fertility and IVF outcomes. A 54% success rate was seen in women taking over 20 ng/ml of vitamin D during their IVF treatment.
- Excessive alcohol use, smoking and recreational drugs should be avoided as they have been found to adversely affect the outcomes of fertility treatment.
These are simple steps you can take to stay healthy and try to increase your success with IVF.
ReproMed Fertility Center is committed to providing comprehensive infertility and reproductive health care, including In-vitro fertilization (IVF). Our physicians formulate individualized treatment plans for each patient so they have the best chance of conceiving. ReproMed Fertility Center can offer new hope to those seeking to overcome infertility in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.