Ovulation, Conception, and Fertility Predictions by Your
Doctor
A woman once blamed her doctor for getting her pregnant. It
seems he forgot to tell her that the antibiotics he had
prescribed for her might render the birth control pill
ineffective. When doctors mess up, they mess up bad, and a
doctor who isn’t paying attention can make mistakes that
effect patients’ fertility and conception.
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Probably one of the bigger mistakes that doctors make
revolves around the fact that women’s menstrual cycles are
individual. The 28-day cycle is an average, and any doctor
who assumes that patients are on a 28-day calendar will make
mistakes in testing that relies on accurate timing. Your
doctor should schedule a test of the quality of cervical
mucus within 24 hours after the surge of luteinizing
hormone. Called a “post-coital exam, this test checks on how
well sperm can swim through the cervical mucus. Another test
whose accuracy depends on exquisite timing is the serum
progesterone test. |
This blood test has to be made precisely seven days after ovulation to check whether your
progesterone levels are correct. Progesterone prepares the
uterus for implantation of the fertilized egg. Your doctor should be aware that your cycle may very well differ
from the 28-day average, and may ask you to keep a cycle journal
or to use fertility testing kits to determine accurate testing
dates.
(One reason that first pregnancies have historically been “late”
is that the doctor’s delivery prediction was usually based on
asking the date of the last period without asking how long the
cycle was. This resulted in miscalculation of the delivery date,
and since many women have 30 days cycles, when doctors used
calendars for pregnancy information, they were often too early
in their predictions.)
Semen analysis should be performed to make sure that the man’s
sperm cells are numerous and viable. Measles can result in male
sterility, and a high fever can reduce sperm count. Doctors will
probably also take a sexual history to rule out the chances of
infertility caused by STDs.
How to Get Pregnant Sections of Interest
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