HSG or hysterosalpingogram? Let’s call it an HSG. After all, hysterosalpingogram may qualify as the most unpronounceable word you'll meet on your fertility journey. We still can’t say it either – and we tried three times. Anyway, the abbreviation is not important but the procedure is.
Fertility problems affect around 1 in 6 UK couples of reproductive age. Many will be offered limited treatment at NHS fertility clinics. Or, more likely, no treatment at all: read all about the NHS postcode lottery here. Instead of getting help in their hour of need, desperate fertility patients face crippling costs at private UK clinics. But there’s no need to get nobbled. Just show these clinics the door.
AMH, or anti-Müllerian hormone, is more important than it sounds. It’s a revealing protein=hormone geared to your reproductive system. An AMH test can help IVF patients evaluate their chances of success.
Prolactin is a hormone that originates in your pituitary gland. It functions in virtually every cell in your body. Pregnant women and nursing mothers produce high levels of prolactin. Why? Because it’s instrumental in creating breast milk.
FSH, or follicle stimulating hormone, is the engine room of your reproductive system. It’s also the hormone that couples trying to conceive worry about the most. Fertility patients routinely approach the FSH test with trepidation.
Fuelled by horror stories and misinformation online, many of us have been led to believe that our future pregnancy chances hinge exclusively on the numbers that come back from the lab. Will they fall within the ‘right’ range? Is it game over? Interpreting FSH numbers can be tricky and there’s room for misunderstanding and confusion. Stories abound of inadequate advice.
TSH, short for thyroid stimulating hormone, is vital for regulating your metabolism. That's the process of changing the food you eat into well-managed energy distribution. TSH also plays a significant role in reproduction and pregnancy health: there may be a higher risk of miscarriage and other pregnancy problems when levels of the hormone are off-the-scale. Women planning IVF treatment should be routinely tested for TSH. As should women struggling to conceive naturally.
LH, or luteinising hormone, plays an important role in reproductive health. For couples finding it hard to conceive or maintain a pregnancy, the amount of LH in the blood is relevant. If you’re considering IVF, an LH test is a must.
Thank you, Reprofit! We’re delighted to introduce our beautiful new baby, Ida. She was born on 15 July 2013 at the Queens’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. After our long and painful battle with infertility in the UK, it was the Reprofit clinic in the Czech Republic that helped us conceive our precious daughter.
IVF due date calculators are, by definition, happy creatures. Often used by couples after a successful IVF cycle, they estimate your due date based on two days only you and your clinic know: your egg-retrieval day and/or your embryo-transfer day. Try our very own IVF due date calculator here.