So you’ve undergone a cycle of IVF or ICSI, your eggs have been fertilised and any good embryo(s) transferred back into your uterus – what happens next?
The next part of your treatment stage – after the actual ‘treatment’ itself, is what’s known on many infertility forums and online chatrooms as the ‘two week wait’. Once your embryo has been transferred there’s a period of waiting to see if it implants as in a natural pregnancy.
It takes around two weeks to know if your treatment has been successful or not, and before you leave the clinic we will give you a date - the earliest time – you can do a home pregnancy test. If you do a test before this date, it may not give an accurate result because the pregnancy hormone levels it picks up may be too weak to be read properly. So you may have a negative result when in fact you are pregnant.
During this waiting time you can rest if you wish, but please be reassured that nothing you do at this stage will affect the outcome of your treatment.
If when you’ve done the test at the correct time it shows that you are pregnant, congratulations! You need to call us to let us know your result and we will then arrange for you to undergo an ultrasound scan at our clinic, at around seven weeks of your pregnancy, where we check to make sure the pregnancy is progressing as it should and to detect a heartbeat. If all is well, we then transfer you care to local NHS providers under whose care you’ll continue the rest of your pregnancy.
If your test is negative, we do ask that you contact us with your result so we know the outcome. We then arrange for a follow-up with your consultant where we can discuss next steps , we can also arrange counselling for you and your partner if you wish. We do understand how you will be feeling so please remember that we are here to support you.
If you begin bleeding before you take the pregnancy test, don’t automatically assume your treatment has failed. Some bleeding can be common in very early pregnancy. We still ask you to perform a pregnancy test to be certain. If at any time you do begin bleeding heavily however, even if this is after your test shows you are pregnant, contact us.
We do understand how stressful the time after your actual treatment can be. So if you do want to talk to someone at any time, please get in touch with our nursing team or patient advisors. We’ve helped a great many of our patients through the ‘two week wait’, even if it’s just providing a listening ear. Remember we are here for you throughout your entiretreatment journey, whether your pregnancy test is positive or negative.
Last updated: 18th January 2013
