The beauty of customizing our IVF protocols is that we’ve been able to create innovative techniques to help women with complicated health histories get pregnant.  One such method, developed by our Senior Medical Associate Dr. Lyndon Chang, is our Luteal Phase Stimulation protocol. Because of his experience with women with previous IVF failures, Dr. Chang has been able to develop the LPS protocol to help women with complex health histories, reporting a recent pregnancy using this method just last week.

As we’ve explained in previous posts,  the Luteal Phase is Day 14 through 28 of the woman’s cycle and occurs directly after ovulation (when the egg is released and the body is ready for pregnancy or implantation). While typical IVF egg retrievals occur directly before ovulation, in some instances other eggs that began to develop can be retrieved during the luteal phase in order to increase a woman’s chances of having more than one viable egg during her IVF cycle.

Our recent IVF success story using the LPS protocol helped a 42-year-old get pregnant with Natural Cycle IVF.  Because of a complicated health history (the patient had a prior kidney transplant and was deemed an IVF non-responder after failing three cycles elsewhere), we opted for this less invasive treatment, which relies on close monitoring and no fertility medications.

Since the initial retrieval did not produce a good quality egg, Dr. Chang and Ms. 42 decided to try to retrieve an egg during her Luteal Phase, two weeks after her first retrieval.   After cryopreserving the Luteal Phase embryo using our vitrification technique and performing a frozen embryo transfer in her next cycle, she got pregnant — despite never being able to get pregnant before with conventional IVF care.

Congratulations to Dr. Chang and the New Hope team on the successful application of this unique IVF protocol!  We look forward to reporting more successes using the Luteal Phase Stimulation technique.

A guest post concerning postpartum health from our friends at Drugwatch.com:

After a woman gives birth, she can become overwhelmed with the advice she receives regarding infant care, breastfeeding, proper sleep techniques, and so on. She may be instructed to do Kegel exercises in order to prevent postpartum incontinence. However, postpartum reproductive health care does more than just prevent annoying stress incontinence. It can prevent the onset of a common condition called Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP).

Women who develop healthy reproductive health habits early on have a lower chance of being diagnosed with POP later on in life. Some methods used to treat POP have been linked to serious health complications, so working to avoid POP is worth the effort.

What is Pelvic Organ Prolapse?

As many as 50 percent of women will develop some form of POP in their lifetime, although most women will never experience any symptoms. Usually diagnosed during menopause, POP is a condition in which pelvic tissues and muscles begin to weaken. This weakening can allow organs, such as the bladder, uterus and rectum to drop. In worst-case scenarios, the organs can bulge, or drop, into the vaginal canal.

There are several ways to prevent and/or treat POP. Some of these treatments are considered non-invasive and have little to no risk. Other treatments involve surgical intervention to rebuild support in the pelvic region. In these cases, the risks can be more severe. One common surgical procedure used to reverse POP uses a medical device called transvaginal mesh. Unfortunately, this mesh material has been linked to thousands of reports of complications, many of which are serious and/or permanent.

What is Transvaginal Mesh?

Transvaginal mesh was introduced as a surgical solution to POP about a decade ago. It can be made from synthetic or biologic materials. It is inserted through the vagina and used like a hammock to support pelvic organs. When the surgery is successful, the hammock-like mesh material prevents organs and tissues from further prolapse and stops POP from progressing.

Unfortunately, by the mid-2000s, an alarming number of health complications were being reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by women who had received transvaginal mesh implants. In 2008, the FDA issued its first warning to health care professionals about the growing number of complications. By 2011, a second warning was issued labeling transvaginal mesh as a risky medical device and stating that serious health complications related to the mesh were no longer rare.

Risks Associated with Transvaginal Mesh

Vaginal mesh products have a tendency to erode and/or protrude into vaginal tissues and surrounding organs. It can also contract over time, pulling tissues with it. These complications can cause pain, discomfort, repeat infections, pain during sexual intercourse and even chronic incontinence. Damage from transvaginal mesh can be very difficult to reverse. The women who have been harmed and are still experiencing the painful side effects, have filed surgical mesh lawsuits.

By prioritizing postpartum care, living a healthy lifestyle and committing to daily exercises that strengthen pelvic floor and core muscles, women can take an active role in their reproductive health, and minimize their chances of developing POP.

Ectopic pregnancies occur when the embryo implants somewhere outside of the woman’s uterus. Oftentimes, this can happen inside one of the woman’s fallopian tubes, known as a tubal pregnancy, but has been known in some instances to occur in the cervix, ovaries, and abdomen (source: Wikipedia).  In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, the fetus cannot survive, and can lead to dangerous conditions for the woman as well.

At New Hope, we’ve helped many women who have previously suffered through an ectopic pregnancy get pregnant successfully.

Just recently, for instance, we had a 28-year-old come to our center seeking help to get pregnant after experiencing the trauma of an ectopic pregnancy.  Our fertility care doctors understand the dangers involved in overstimulating the sensitive uterine environments of patients with these types of reproductive health histories, which is why we often elect more holistic IVF techniques to help them conceive.  Applying this protocol to Ms. 28 worked — and after her first Mini-IVF™ cycle here at New Hope, she was able to conceive successfully after just a single frozen embryo transfer.

Ms. 34 had a similar history, arriving at New Hope after an ectopic pregnancy.  She, along with our doctors, elected to try a few IUI cycles in order to avoid overstimulating with too many fertility drugs; but unfortunately they were unsuccessful.  We are pleased to announce, however, that after just one Mini-IVF™ cyle using donor sperm, Ms. 34 got pregnant.

Congratulations to these two women who overcame a huge barrier of fear after suffering through ectopic pregnancies and got the help they needed to get pregnant — and with the baby in the right place!!

At New Hope Fertility Center, our success rates with frozen embryo transfers are high compared with competing centers thanks to our individualized frozen embryo transfer protocols and the use of vitrification for freezing embryos — which yields a 98% survival rate, compared to a 60% embryo survival rate under traditional freezing methods.

We are happy to announce 3 recent IVF success stories that all involved women conceiving after frozen embryo transfers.  Ms. 31 arrived at our doors struggling with a history of primary infertility, and while she unfortunately did not get pregnant after her first transfer, she recently announced she returned a positive pregnancy test following her Ultra Mini-IVF™ treatment (no injections) and frozen embryo transfer.

Ms. 32, who was dealing with issues trying to have her second child (secondary infertility), also had an unsuccessful first try with a fresh embryo transfer created from a Mini-IVF™ cycle.  After waiting one month, however, our fertility doctors transferred 2 frozen embryos into Ms. 32 and she got pregnant…with triplets!

Our final IVF success story for today comes from Ms. 28.  Suffering from primary infertility, she elected our Mini-IVF™ treatment and after her frozen embryo transfer, she got pregnant.

Once again, congratulations to these 3 women, who all got pregnant through minimal stimulation IVF and frozen embryo transfers.  Your persistence is a great example for women who are dreaming to build their family just like you!

Have you been trying to conceive for over a year and still have trouble getting pregnant?  You’re not alone. Nearly 7.3 million women and couple struggle with infertility in the United States alone, and this includes those trying to get pregnant for their first, second, or even third time.

At New Hope Fertility, we treat a diverse group of women of all ages, ethnic, and health backgrounds. One thing these women have in common?  Trouble getting pregnant.  While women oftentimes are suffering from unexplained infertility, that is, they do not know the root cause of their inability to conceive, others suffer from a multitude of fertility-related issues, from PCOS to male factor infertility. One thing is certain — infertility does not discriminate.

We have recently been able to help a number of women who had trouble getting pregnant with their first child, with their ages ranging from 26 to 39 years of age.  Ms. 26 arrived at New Hope with primary infertility, and after a few unsuccessful cycles, finally got pregnant with twins after her Mini-IVF™ treatment. Our next patient, Ms. 32, also suffering with issues trying to conceive for her first time, was able to conceive after just 1 Mini-IVF™ cycle and a single embryo transfer (one of the safest IVF practices that we promote at our clinic).

Ms. 30, although dealing with primary infertility and an unsuccessful initial frozen embryo transfer, pulled through to get pregnant after her second frozen embryo transfer. Our final IVF success story for today comes from Ms. 39, who also got pregnant through Mini-IVF™ after freezing her embryos and having a frozen embryo transfer (which is highly successful at our clinic thanks to our vitrification freezing method, with a 98% thaw survival rate).

Congratulations to all of our recent IVF pregnancies, who all prove that you can still get pregnant after dealing with primary infertility.  Hooray!