Do you know what it takes for a healthy pregnancy? Let me help.
Pregnancy – for some couples it is easy but for others it is a challenge with many ups and downs. For the women who are able to get pregnant without much difficulty, may you enjoy the process, and the changes that your body goes through. For the couples that are struggling know you are not alone. When I talk with couples that want to get pregnant with or without knowing if there is going to be a struggle we talk about the same things. I spend most of my time making sure that mom is going to be a hospitable host for the little one(s) to be in. This means looking at routine blood work, often evaluating diet and lifestyle stressors, usually looking at specialty labs including food allergies/food sensitivities, and sometimes looking at nutrient levels.
Often in the routine blood work we are looking at vitamin D levels. There was a recent large, prospective, cross-sectional study that looked at vitamin D levels and in vitro fertilization (IVF). The study was published on August 14, 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. They looked at 335 women between January and December of 2012 in Milan at a fertility clinic; focusing on their vitamin D levels within 90 days of embryo transfer. They found 154 women had vitamin D deficiency, with an average level of 14.1, while 181 women had normal levels of vitamin D with an average of 29.1. The reference range of vitamin D, 25-hydroxy-vitmain D, is 30-100ng/mL. The reference range I try to get my patients into is 55 to 80 as the cancer protective qualities of vitamin D are seen at these levels.
Each group had similar numbers of embryos transferred, but 29 of the higher levels of vitamin D group, and 9 of the lower levels of vitamin D group had 3 or more top-quality embryos. “A top-quality embryo was defined as a 4-celled embryo at day 2 or an 8-celled embryo at day 3, with a relative degree of fragmentation of less than 10%.” They went on to show that women with higher levels of vitamin D had increased odds for successful implantation as well better odds for clinical pregnancy. The researchers warn that you cannot make a causal relationship between low vitamin D, and infertility.
I think it is important to look at everything when it comes to getting pregnant. We have to know who you are, and if your body is able to handle a healthy pregnancy. For my patients who have been able to get pregnant, what amazing parents you have become. For my patients still trying, lets keep trying. If you are trying to get pregnant and would like support then please give me a call, or email to set up a free 15 minute consultation. If you are an existing patient then please reach out so we can discuss the right course of action for that healthy baby!
Source: Medscape (registration required)