We are excited to be getting a technology called IMSI up and running in the next few weeks. IMSI stands for Intracytoplasmic Morphologicall Selected Sperm Injection. In an normal ICSI cycle the embryologist selects the sperm for injection at a magnification of 400x however IMSI is where sophisticated optics allows a magnification of 7000 to 8000x therefore enabling a much better look inside the sperm to select sperm without vacuoles within the nucleus. A recent meta analysis suggested that both implantation and pregnancy rates may be improved over conventional ICSI by 2 to 3 times with reduced miscarriage rates.
As yet it is not clear who may benefit from this technique possibly men with 2 previous failed ICSI cycles, poor embryo quality or poor sperm morphology or high levels of DNA fragmentation. The technique is time consumptive for the lab staff and will add about another $750 of cost.
We expect to offer IMSI by mid July and will announce its introduction on our website. It will be available initially through our Auckland Clinic only.
Saturday 23 June 2012
Sunday 10 June 2012
What to eat during an IVF cycle
I had always assumed that women knew what was a healthy diet and that they followed the general principles when going through an IVF cycle because they knew this would increase their chances of conceiving and also that their child would have improved lifelong health outcomes. However recent work has shown that women often eat poorly during their IVF treatment with many not having enough folic acid, iodine, carbohydrate or protein in their diet, with many still consuming caffeine and alcohol along with too much fat, salt and convenience foodc.
So this is a blog about what women should be eating when doing IVF treatment. Firstly, adequate folic acid supplementation which means 0.8mg daily and if a woman has a BMI above 30 then she should be taking 5 mg folic acid. The folic acid story is really confusing as many of the pregnancy supplements don't have the correct dose. The next absolute is to remove caffeine and alcohol from the diet, caffeine can be difficult as is present in a number of beverages not just coffee, such as tea, green tea, chocolate. coke and energy drinks. The NZ Ministry of Health Guidelines suggest women who are pregnant should be eating 6 serves of fruit and vegetables, two servings of lean protein, six servings of bread and cereals (preferably wholegrain), three servings of dairy (low fat yoghurt, trim milk), drink plenty of fluids, choose and prepare foods low in fat, salt and sugar. Here are the Ministry of Health Guidelines . So eat well!
So this is a blog about what women should be eating when doing IVF treatment. Firstly, adequate folic acid supplementation which means 0.8mg daily and if a woman has a BMI above 30 then she should be taking 5 mg folic acid. The folic acid story is really confusing as many of the pregnancy supplements don't have the correct dose. The next absolute is to remove caffeine and alcohol from the diet, caffeine can be difficult as is present in a number of beverages not just coffee, such as tea, green tea, chocolate. coke and energy drinks. The NZ Ministry of Health Guidelines suggest women who are pregnant should be eating 6 serves of fruit and vegetables, two servings of lean protein, six servings of bread and cereals (preferably wholegrain), three servings of dairy (low fat yoghurt, trim milk), drink plenty of fluids, choose and prepare foods low in fat, salt and sugar. Here are the Ministry of Health Guidelines . So eat well!
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