Preconception health is extremely important because the lifestyle and body habitus poses a lot of issues, such as obesity and pcos are directly linked and we see azoospermia (absent sperm) in a lot of obese and diabetic male patients. It also has a direct impact on semen parameters of male, and ovarian reserve of the female.
“So, I would advise my patients daily exercise for about 30 minutes and attain an ideal BMI,” says Dr Samhitha, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist of Prashanth Hospitals, Chennai.
She adds, “Genetic screening is not routinely recommended for all the couples undergoing IVF, we would recommend it only in case of recurrent abortion history, or a history of previous anomalous baby.”
Emotional support is the most important need when a couple undergoes IVF, especially for a mother, because it’s a long tenous procedure involving a lot of appointments, scans, procedures under anaesthesia. It takes a lot of motivation, and it’s particularly necessary when you see failures after embryo transfer cycles, and repeated cycles after negative results and failure to attain the optimum parameters for IVF success.
“Prenatal care is essential for every pregnancy specifically for IVF, because more often than not IVF pregnancies require a lot of support in the form of progesterone, other hormones and healthy lifestyle is important. It is a common misconception that bed rest is advised for all IVF pregnancies, it’s not so. I would recommend antenatal yoga and physiotherapy to all my IVF patients’ mobility is paramount because, confining themselves to bed at home is also detrimental for physical and mental wellbeing,” adds Dr Samhitha.
Follow up care post pregnancy, childbirth is also important. We usually encounter a lot of medical issues such as diabetes, hypertension, thyroid and cardiac diseases in older age group, especially above 35 to 40 years. We call them for regular check-ups and monitor all the vital parameters.
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