By Enyeribe Ejiogu
Five days ago, the whole world was agog as excited, unmarried lovers and couples celebrated Valentine’s Day, in whatever way they chose. Certainly, unquantifiable number of hours were dedicated to sexual intercourse as the sweet icing on the cake of the big day, which is observed once a year.
And nine months from now, a new population of 2023 Valentine babies will be born. Unfortunately too, Valentine conceptions by ladies who did not know that this year’s Valentine’s Day fell within their fertility window period and probably had unprotected sex with a lover not yet ready to marry or have a child would be place in uncomfortable position of having an abortion. At the other end of the spectrum are couples, whose desire is to have babies by natural process but for a number of reasons are unable to achieve that godly desire. The options before them range from receiving abundant grace to remain childless, adopt babies and raise as their own or opt for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) which growing advances and innovations in medical science continue to improve the processes and success rates. Yet, some uninformed people point to the instances of unsuccessful IVF cycles. Below, in the first of a series, seasoned gynaecologist and Managing Director of Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos, offers some tips on how couples can improve their chances of achieving conception and experience the boundless joy of having their own biological children.
When talk about the efficiency of IVF, they forget natural conception is not efficient at all. We need to lay this background, because when people about success rate in IVF, it is about 35 to 40 percent. Some people who are not well informed say that this too low because they compare that with the process of natural conception, in one cycle in a woman. The chance that a woman could get pregnant in a cycle, through the natural process, depending on the age, ranges from about 5 to maximum of 20-25 per cent every month. Now for a woman who is over 40 years, it can range
We the technology in Nordica that can actually deliver up to 40 percent success rate from a patient who probably was about two percent. That is a big jump. It can range from less than five per cent to 40 per cent for a woman who is over 40 years old.
These are the factors that affect the decision making when doctors eventually see female patients in this category. This should also guide them to know when they need to go see fertility specialist. You see ladies getting married at 39, and one year after, they have not started seeing the doctor. They are waiting for the natural process.
The question to ask is: how can I increase the chances of having natural conception? You need to have regular unprotected sex, especially close to the time of your ovulation. You need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. These are important that factors that will help you get pregnant through natural conception.
But what makes natural conception a little problematic is the woman not knowing when she is very likely to ovulate. You cannot know the exact day or hour when ovulation will take place in a woman, to be able to predict when conception can occur by natural process.
So, the guide that doctors generally give is for the woman to have more sex with husband during her ovulation window. The fertile window of a woman is about to five to seven days in the whole 30 days of the monthly cycle.
That is why it is important for the couple to time sexual intercourse to occur just a day before the day of ovulation and one day after the day of ovulation. Once the ovulation window is closed, if you like you and your husband can have sex three times day, even if he has the best sperm in the world, the woman is not likely to get pregnant.
That brings me to the major question most women ask me: how do I know when I am likely to ovulate? There are many methods that can be used. One method you can use is the calendar method. We know that a woman is likely to ovulate 12 to 14 days before the first day next menses. You can decide to keep records for about six months of the first time you see your menses every month. Even for the same woman, the days you see your menses cannot be the same day every month. Even though we know that the average cycle is about 28 days, but we also know that between 21 and 35 days is normal. Even for the same woman, you could have 28 days this month and 30 days the next month. So, the woman needs to keep maintain the calendar recordings for about six, to get an idea of how the onset of menses varies from month to month. This will probably enable the woman to predict when the next one will happen.
That is why when a lady is still single but considering marriage, she should carefully, diligently and faithfully follow the calendar method and keep records of the first day of her menses for about six months. The woman should not forget that five days before ovulation and one day after ovulation represent her fertile window. If you can bring the attitude of a scientist recording raw data in a research study, to your adoption of the calendar method, then you are very like succeed and conceive.
Another method is keeping records of body temperature, but given the tropical setting of this environment where most people have to endure hot residential accommodations and the like, it has big question mark on it. Even the calendar method is not very useful for women who have irregular menses. However, there are many over-the-counter ovulation which detect ovulation early and about 24 hours after ovulation. Usually, women who want to use their eggs for conception, we start testing them from about the 11th day.
The other thing that is very important to mention is that you must maintain a healthy lifestyle. In this regard, there are some ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. The first rule is to start your family at the right time. Of course, we know that doing this might be totally in the control of the woman. For women, fertility starts decreasing from above 35 years. Once you are past 35 years, you should not wait for more than six months after you marry before you go to see a gynaecologist, not just any general practitioner. Get the name of a gynaecologist, who is engaged in fertility practice and have a frank conversation with the doctor. From age 35, the number and quality of a woman’s eggs begin to decrease.
If you can start trying to raise a family before you reach 35, that is excellent, but you might consider storing your eggs with a recognized fertility centre while you are still younger, for you to use when you are ready to start a family. If you are trying to achieve conception, what you eat is important. That is why we talk about having a balanced diet. We all know that to be healthy, you have to eat a balanced diet, which should be less of carbohydrates, fats but more of vegetables.