Not Pregnant Yet? You May Not Need IVF

6th October 2017 in Fertility

This information was correct at the time of publishing. It may not reflect our current practices, prices or regulations.

There are many causes of infertility – and the solution may often be a simple one. Just because you haven’t got pregnant yet doesn’t mean you necessarily need IVF.

At Manchester Fertility we explore all causes before recommending fertility treatment, if that’s what you need.

It could be that you just need to understand your own fertility and ovulation cycle a little better, to give yourself the best chance of conception. At Manchester Fertility our consultants don’t just help those who have diagnosed infertility. We can help if you’re trying to start a family too.

Here’s our advice if you’re planning to conceive, and how we can help you achieve a natural pregnancy or through fertility treatment:

Ovulation tracking and learning your fertile window

When you consider that your fertile window each month is only a few days, and that sperm only survives for a short time, you need to maximise your chance of pregnancy each month.

You can do this by learning your fertile days. Often the reason you’re not pregnant yet is just down to timing. If you have a regular, 28-day cycle, you’ll typically ovulate between days 10-14 after your period starts. But this isn’t a set timeframe. Your cycle may be longer, or shorter. You may find your periods are irregular.

So use ovulation prediction kits to help you identify your most fertile time. These detect the hormone surge that occurs just before an egg is released. The tests are simple to use and can be bought from any high street chemist.

No sign of a positive pregnancy test? Look at your lifestyle

If you’re using ovulation prediction kits correctly and these are detecting ovulation, but you’ve not achieved pregnancy after a few months, there may be a number of reasons.

You may be unknowingly reducing your chance of pregnancy because of your lifestyle and diet choices. Excessive BMI, alcohol and smoking can all affect fertility in both men and women. A dietary overhaul and change in lifestyle may be all that’s needed to achieve pregnancy.

But if you consider yourself to be healthy and aren’t excessively overweight, it’s worth seeking advice and help from your GP or book in for a private fertility consultation, or fertility testing, with us.

Seeing a fertility consultant

Our fertility consultants provide a range of fertility services including expert advice if you’re trying to conceive. We’ll performfertility tests designed to detect the main causes of female and male infertility.

Fertility MOT

Our Fertility MOT test is designed to show you how fertile you are, and highlight in advance any problems which could make it difficult to conceive naturally. It includes ultrasound scans, hormonal blood tests, ovarian reserve testing and for your partner we perform semen analysis. All tests can be completed within one menstrual cycle. You may not be planning to have children now, but the test will enable you to see if there’s a chance you’ll need fertility treatment or not in future. 

You’ll receive your results via a comprehensive fertility consultation with one of our expert consultants, who will advise you how to achieve a pregnancy naturally. Or, if a problem is found, what fertility treatment is best to overcome it.

Starting fertility treatment

If IVF isn’t the ‘go-to’ treatment at Manchester Fertility for you, there may be other treatment avenues to explore first, depending on your diagnosis.

We’ll always advise the best and most effective fertility treatment for you, in consultation with you, providing you with a transparent, fully-costed treatment plan at the outset.

Getting pregnant: Private fertility consultation in Cheshire

If you want advice on getting pregnant or are worried about your fertility, book in for a private fertility consultation or a private fertility check at our Cheshire fertility clinic on 0161 300 2737.

You can also self-refer online anytime, and we’ll be in touch.

Last updated: 5th October 2017