5 things to try before IVF
Sometimes women think that the answer to getting pregnant is to proceed quickly to in vitro fertilizaiton or IVF. But there may be steps that you have not yet tried . Open fallopian tubes are critically important to getting pregnant without IVF. We think of the hysterosalpingogram test as just a way to determine if they are open, or closed. In the distant past we used to use air testing, then x-ray testing, and now we use ultrasonography testing. Ultrasound testing is usually with saline, and now we have a device to use air bubbles. The ultrasound test is safer from the respect of no radiation exposure, but the exposure levels are low. Now a new study that looked at x-ray technique with oil found that an extra 10% of women got pregnant with oil based fluid as the medium over not using oil. It is very simple to have a repeat check of your fallopian tubes before trying IVF. The Australia group that looked at this has decided that this is a new alternative for women not ready for IVF instead of giving up.