Assisted Reproductive Technology

The primary "test tube" baby was developed almost 30 years ago. After that, hundreds and hundreds of babies are already conceived through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). This high-tech field has seen great advances in the relatively limited time period, making pregnancy simple for lots of women and couples who do otherwise have little probability of conceiving. Several procedural options are available at present time.

Artificial Insemination 

First, a sperm sample is collected right into a sterile cup. Then the sperm are washed, rinsed and concentrated in the laboratory. The sperm are transferred to the woman's vagina with the use of a syringe. This procedure needs to be timed using the woman's peak fertility time-ovulation. The sperm can be collected from your husband, partner, a friend or obtained at the sperm bank via an anonymous donor. 

IUI - Intrauterine Insemination 

This form of AI places the prepared sperm sample in to the woman's uterus. A small catheter (tube) is employed to pass through the sperm through the cervical opening. Uterine placement raises the odds of success since that this sperm need not battle their way through the vagina, that is an acidic and sometimes hostile environment towards sperm. 

OI - Ovulation Induction 

Fertility drugs, specifically hormones, are widely-used to induce ovulation. OI is needed to make mature eggs which can be fertilized via intercourse, or by AI. OI may produce multiple egg or be a catalyst for multiple births. Mature eggs can be harvested (collected) to get used in ART procedures for instance IVF, GIFT and ZIFT. 

Donor Eggs 

Whenever a woman cannot produce any eggs, or has other medical reasons not to ever use her very own eggs, OI enable you to produce and collect eggs from the donor. Donor eggs can be fertilized while using the husband's/partner's sperm, or by donor sperm. The embryo will be inserted into your woman's fallopian tube or uterus. In this case, the woman nourishes the fetus for nine months and provide birth towards the baby. The baby contains the genetic material of the woman who donated the egg, and the man who's sperm was utilized to fertilize the egg. 

IVF - Ex vivo Fertilization 

A sperm sample is obtained from the daddy. Eggs are harvested from the mother. Fertilization is whithin the laboratory if the sperm are mixed with the eggs. The fertilized eggs (zygotes) begin cellular division. After 2-three days, the zygotes will be ready to be implanted into the mother's uterus. Some clinics are waiting a complete 5-6 days permitting more cellular division before implantation. To boost the probabilities that the embryo will develop into a baby, approximately 3 fertilized eggs are introduced into the uterus. Often this can lead to multiple births. 

GIFT - Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer 

A sperm sample is obtained from the father. Eggs are harvested through the mother. Then, both the sperm and the eggs are injected into the mother's fallopian tube confident that fertilization will occur naturally. 

ZIFT - Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer 

The operation is similar to IVF as the sperm and eggs are united inside laboratory. However, the fertilized eggs are injected into the fallopian tube, not the uterus. 

Embryo Cryopreservation 

Many ART procedures bring about harvesting and fertilizing multiple eggs. Usually only 3 fertilized eggs are transferred into mom. If there are more fertilized eggs produced than needed, they can be frozen to be used in a later cycle.

FET - Frozen Embryo Transfer 

Previously frozen embryos may be transferred in the woman's uterus or fallopian tube. 

TESA - Testicular Epididymal Sperm Aspiration 

TESA is needed to recover sperm from men who have really low sperm counts, or have blockages in the sperm delivery tract, say for example a vasectomy. A tiny syringe is inserted 1/2 inch in to the testicle as well as a tissue sample is obtained. (Local anesthesia is needed and also the procedure occurs within the physician’s office. The person is usually normal again a day after). Sperm are separated in the tissue sample and individual sperm are injected into eggs which are harvested from the woman. This procedure is recognized as Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). The fertilized eggs are cultured for 2-3 days and inserted into the woman's uterus or fallopian tube. 

Surrogate Mother 

If a woman cannot go through a pregnancy for medical or some other reasons, she may use a surrogate mother. A surrogate mother can be impregnated, carry the child to term, give birth to the child and return the little one towards other woman. The surrogate mother may also use her own egg, the other woman's egg or a donor egg. The sperm may come from the partner of the woman who cannot carry the pregnancy, or from a sperm donor. 

Excerpted From Nutrition For You, Nutrition For Two

Preventing Neural Tube Birth Defects With Folic Acid

Preventing Neural Tube Birth Defects With Folic Acid

Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) are birth defects that occur very early in pregnancy. The defects develop between the 17th and 30th day after conception (four to six weeks after the first day of a woman's last menstrual period), usually before a woman knows she is pregnant. During this critical time of pregnancy, the proper formation and closure of the neural tube, which later becomes the spinal cord, brain and bone surrounding the spinal cord and brain, normally takes place. An NTD occurs when the neural tube fails to close properly.

Anencephaly and spina bifida are the two most common NTDs. Anencephaly is a fatal condition in which the upper end of the neural tube fails to close. In these cases, the brain fails to develop completely or is entirely absent. Pregnancies affected by anencephaly often result in miscarriages, and the infants who are born alive die very soon after birth.

Spina bifida occurs when the lower end of the neural tube fails to close. As a result, the spinal cord and backbones do not develop properly. Sometimes a sac of fluid protrudes through an opening in the back, and often a portion of the spinal cord is contained in this sac. Paralysis of the infant's legs, loss of bowel and bladder control, hydrocephalus ("water on the brain") and learning disabilities are often associated with spina bifida. Eighty to 90 percent of infants born with spina bifida survive. Despite varying degrees of disability, many lead long, successful and productive lives.

What is it Like to Live With an NTD?

Both prevention and treatment of NTDs - spina bifida and anencephaly - are important. NTDs impact not only the life of a child and those of his or her family, but the community as well. As a child with spina bifida grows older, he or she faces unique economic, educational, medical, health and emotional issues. Paralysis of the legs and bowel and bladder management problems are common for those with spina bifida. These problems may affect a person's health, self-esteem, personal interactions and work and recreational opportunities.

Despite physical and mental challenges, many people with spina bifida live independently. Today, mental retardation caused by hydrocephalus, a complication of spina bifida, is uncommon because of early medical and surgical treatment. However, learning disabilities are common. Although medical care has greatly improved the survival rates and quality of life of children with spina bifida, the children and families affected live with varying degrees of physical and social challenges for life.

Who Is at Risk for Having a Baby With an NTD?

Any woman who is capable of becoming pregnant could have an NTD-affected pregnancy. It is not possible to predict which women will have a pregnancy affected by an NTD. Ninety-five percent of women with NTD-affected pregnancies have no personal or family history of NTDs.

However, some risk factors are known. These include:

• A previous NTD-affected pregnancy. (This increases a woman's chance of having another NTD-affected pregnancy by approximately 20 times.)
• Maternal insulin-dependent diabetes.
• Use of anti-seizure medication. (Valproic Acid/Depakene and Carbamazapine.)
• Medically diagnosed obesity.
• Exposure to high temperatures in early pregnancy. (For example, prolonged high fevers and hot-tub use.)
• Race/ethnicity. (NTDs are more common among white women than black women and more common among Hispanic women than non-Hispanic women.)
• Lower socio-economic status.

About Folic Acid

Folic acid is a vitamin supplement, when taken one month before conception and throughout the first trimester, has been proven to reduce the risk for an NTD-affected pregnancy by 50 percent to 70 percent. Folic acid, a B-vitamin, is necessary for proper cell growth and development of the embryo. Although it is not known exactly how folic acid works to prevent NTDs, its role in tissue formation is essential. Folic acid is required for the production of DNA, which is necessary for the rapid cell growth needed to make fetal tissues and organs early in pregnancy. That is why it is important for a woman to have enough folic acid in her body both before and during pregnancy.

Can Women Get Too Much Folic Acid?

If a woman of reproductive age were to eat a bowl of fortified cereal (100 to 400 micrograms), take a vitamin containing 400 micrograms (0.4 milligram) of folic acid and eat foods rich in folate in one day, she would not have a problem with too much folic acid. Even in very high amounts, folic acid is nontoxic. Nevertheless, with the exception of women who have had a prior NTD-affected pregnancy, it is recommended that women consume no more than 1,000 micrograms of synthetic folic acid a day.

What Do These Options Mean for Women?

A diet rich in food folate is healthy and highly recommended. There are a few studies that suggest food folate may reduce the risk for NTDs. However, this is still in question. The Public Health Service's recommendation for NTD prevention is based on studies of synthetic folic acid from supplements that women took in addition to their regular diets. Fortifying the food supply is an excellent way to increase consumption of folic acid without requiring women to change their behaviors. However, fortification at the 1998 level will not prevent all folic acid-preventable NTD-affected pregnancies unless women are educated to change the way they eat.

To prevent NTDs, women will need to take a folic acid-containing vitamin daily, eat a fortified breakfast cereal containing 100 percent of the daily value of folic acid or increase their consumption of foods fortified with folic acid in addition to consuming food folate from a balanced diet.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

What is Morning Sickness?

What is morning sickness? 

Morning sickness is one of your first signs of pregnancy. However, this doesn’t always mean that you’ll get sick only in the morning. This can happen, morning, noon or night. It normally occurs in the first trimester of your pregnancy and end by the second. Although, this isn’t the case in all pregnancies, some women will continue with it until the very end of term.

Nausea and vomiting can happen immediately or you may get lucky and have no morning sickness at all. No one is certain what actually causes morning sickness, it is a change in the body that happens during pregnancy.

There are a few ways to minimize the morning sickness, but they don’t work for everyone. Try keeping crackers on hand, I prefer saltines for some reason. Try drinking some ginger ale, it calms the stomach down.  Dry cereal is another good thing to eat, your stomach may just be a little bit hungry and trying to tell you about it. Remember to take small portions, this way you know if it is all going to come up or not. Sleeping is another good way to avoid it, however it will wake you up.

Smells is another thing that seems to cause morning sickness. Imagine walking into a restaurant and the first thing you smell is grease. Yes, this can easily set it off. Bad smells and even certain tastes, get the feel for your body during the pregnancy.

A few reasons you should go to your doctor would be if you begin losing weight because you are constantly sick. If you become dehydrated, faint, look pale, confused or throw up more than four times in a day. Your doctor may be able to prescribe something that will stop it.

Try slowing down a bit, sometimes your body is just exhausted from all the errands and it tries to give you a break. Listen to your body, take a nap, relax and watch a television show…take some time off.