In Vitro Fertility Goddess
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Wednesday 25 February, 2009
Give fertility treatment time.
That's the message from one of Britain's leading fertility experts who says women shouldn't rush into fertility treatment after only one year of trying to conceive naturally.
Dr Geeta Nargund, the head of reproductive medicine at London's St George's Hospital actually believes those women opting for IVF after only 12 months may be doing themselves more harm than good.
This comes after research which revealed that women who decided take up fertility treatment in such a short time frame only improved their chances of falling pregnant by a very slim margin while at the same time increasing the odds of enduring health risks associated with multiple births.
Dr Nargund argues that these women, particularly younger women, are much better off reducing stress levels and losing weight than taking up IVF if they are to improve their fertility.
She told the Daily Mail newspaper that "we must offer lifestyle advice, early tests and simple approaches to promote natural conception. If a woman is younger and has no serious medical causes of infertility, she should consider improving her fertility naturally.
"IVF is safe but what we are saying is you don't want unnecessary medical treatment far too early."
Her comments are based on a study which used a computer program to replicate the results of 100,000 women trying to conceive. But although it found those who had IVF were more likely to have a baby, the difference in birth rate was small and not worth the risk of having twins or triplets, who are much more likely to be born prematurely, less likely to live beyond their first week and have a much higher risk of cerebral palsy.
But Dr Nargund's study did conclude that IVF was an "excellent treatment for couples who have little or no chance of a natural pregnancy".
Professor Bill Ledger, a fertility expert from Sheffield University, added: "IVF is unpleasant and stressful and should not be done if there is a reasonable chance of a natural conception. However there is a balance to be struck. As a woman passes 30 chances of a conception and live birth from IVF begin to fall, and fall more steeply after 35. It is also pointless to wait long if there is an obvious infertility cause - for example a partner with a very low sperm count."
Sarah Williams
