OvuSense Fertility Blog

Many couples turn to IVF in pursuit of creating a family. These couples put their absolutely trust in their clinic and doctor to provide them with the most up to date and research based treatments and investigations. However there is increasing concern that many of the additional treatments and services offered by fertility clinics in the UK are not research based and are therefore misleading patients, increasing their financial burden and ultimately offering little more than false hope.

IVF is expensive, especially when less than half the procedures receive NHS funding. Add-ons increase this financial burden. An endometrial scratch, for example, can cost over £300, time lapse imaging up to £850 and pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) in the region of £3500

Research conducted at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford (Heneghan et al 2016), aimed to assess IVF Add-Ons offered in all UK Fertility clinics against the following criteria:

• Are the Add-Ons recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)?
• Have Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT’s) been conducted to prove that the treatment or intervention is effective?
• Are there any risks or adverse effects associated with the treatment or intervention?

Following the assessment of the website of Fertility Clinics in the UK, the researchers were able to identify a total of 38 interventions and classified these as 27 IVF Add-On, 6 alternatives to IVF and 5 treatments for fertility preservation.

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Male infertility accounts for almost half of infertility problems experienced by couples. However, men are more likely than women to feel embarrassed about their fertility problems and consequently find it difficult to get advice or talk to their doctor. It’s important to remember that men are half the fertility equation and therefore they experience the pain and grief of struggling to become a parent too. 

What causes an abnormal sperm result?

A diagnosis of a poor sperm sample can cause huge distress and confusion to both the man and woman. My patients frequently ask me to explain what their sperm test results mean, why is the sample results so poor and what can they do to increase their sperm count? An abnormal sperm test result is caused by abnormal semen (the fluid containing sperm that is ejaculated during sex). Possible reasons for abnormal semen include:

• Decreased number of sperm – low sperm count, or no sperm at all.
• Decreased sperm mobility – making it harder for the sperm to reach the ovum.
• Abnormal sperm – sperm can sometimes be of abnormal shape, making it harder for them to move and fertilise an egg.

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With advancing technology, we have come to rely on Apps for many things in our lives, be it shopping, music or social media and now even Apps for your fertility! Recently there has been a great deal of media attention surrounding the benefits of Apps and Monitors for fertility, but can they really help you get pregnant?

My patients tell me that they feel really confused as to which is the best fertility App or Monitor to use. Recent research studies have found that fertility Apps used alone are generally ineffective and do not accurately show a woman when she should try and conceive (Setton et al. 2016; Duane et al. 2016), resulting in even greater confusion.

In this blog I review the most commonly used fertility Apps and Monitors, explain what they are, how they work and who they are useful for.

Most importantly, I review their accuracy, including their ability to identify fertile days and ovulation, as well as considering the customer support they offer and the all-important cost. However, before I start it’s really important to explain one crucial difference between Fertility Apps and Monitors.

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If you are trying to conceive it’s very likely that you have given some consideration to your current health. You may have reduce or cut down your alcohol intake, stopped smoking if you were, started to include exercise into your daily routine, eat just that little bit more healthily and even started having daily green juices!

However have you actually spent any time considering how healthy and fertile your mind is right now?

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