Experts estimated that almost one in eight women has struggled to get pregnant.
If you have planned to build your family and failed after trying the all-natural process to start your family, then in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) is the next option you can choose to obtain a biological baby.
In IVF, egg and sperm are collected from the intended mother and father and fertilized in a laboratory set up to create an embryo.
The created embryo is then either implanted to the mother’s or cryopreserved for future use.
It has expected that successful implantation of the healthy embryo will provide pregnancy.
Completion of the IVF cycle requires a huge emotional preparation as IVF cycle-related anxiety, stress, uncertainty, financial investment, and physical load affect your overall health.
Besides these, hormonal shots are given around two weeks for stimulation of ovulation, which can also heighten your emotions.
Therefore, your health must permit to support IVF treatment for successful pregnancy outcomes.
It is suggested that you must follow a healthy lifestyle at least one month before starting the IVF cycle to prepare yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally prepare to bear the intensive medical process involved in the IVF process.
Diet and exercise are two measures you can follow to boost your strength, which increases the possibility of having a baby through IVF.
Dietary guidance during IVF
You need to focus on a balanced diet and healthy eating habits during an IVF cycle.
But you should not drastically change your food habit during this period; for example, you are not used to intaking gluten-free, but suddenly included in your diet during the IVF cycle.
Some reproductive endocrinologists have recommended a Mediterranean diet to their patients during the IVF cycle.
In general, the Mediterranean diet contains a generous amount of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, seeds, potatoes, whole grains, herbs, fish, spices, seafood, and extra virgin olive oil.
This diet plan also includes a moderate amount of poultry items, eggs, cheese, and yogurt.
Red meat is rarely included in this diet and strictly no added sugar, sugar-containing beverages, refined grains, refined oils, processed food items.
The colorful plant-based food items included in the diet can provide you with the necessary nutrition during the IVF cycle to fulfill the nutritional requirement of the body.
Research evidence also supported that the inclusion of the Mediterranean diet may improve the IVF success rate among young, non-obese women who are under 35 years of age.
Along with egg health collected from a woman’s ovary, sperm health is equally important for a successful IVF cycle.
Therefore, the male partner should also follow the Mediterranean diet to achieve the goal successfully.
You can include the following Mediterranean diet plan during the IVF cycle:
- Fruits and vegetables will be your primary ingredients to fill up your stomach
- Select lean proteins containing meals. Fish and poultry are good sources of lean protein.
- Farro, quinoa, and whole-grain pasta are good sources of whole grain containing food items.
- Add lentils, beans, and chickpeas to your diet, as they are a source of legumes.
- Sift from high-fat dairy products to low-fat dairy products.
- Include extra-virgin olive oil, avocado, nuts, and seeds in your recipes to eat healthy fats.
- Add herbs, spices as a flavoring agent to your meal preparation
- Avoid intaking red mead, processed foods, and refined grains
- Minimize salt intake.
Exercise Guidance during the IVF cycle
Many women stop doing their exercise during their IVF cycle as they feel fear about any hit could harm their upcoming pregnancy outcome.
But experts recommended women who have followed a consistent fitness regimen, should continue the same because a healthy body mass index (BMI) is important for conceiving.
Regular stretching exercise helps to build a thick uterine lining to support the pregnancy.
Reproductive experts have recommended a woman should reduce her running to less than 15 miles per week during the IVF cycle.
Excessive running can cause fertility disruption.
During running the blood flow has shifted from the uterine lining to other body parts.
But reproductive organs require a steady flow of blood during the conceiving period.
During the IVF cycle, the safe exercise regimen includes light jogging, spinning, hiking, and the elliptical.
Read Related: IVF Success Rate
Read Related: IVF failure
References:
Ravi Sharma is a self-motivated, successful entrepreneur and has a solid experience in the fertility segment. and he is the director at ARTbaby Global (ARThealthcare). He is a pharmacy graduate with post-graduation in business administration and has 14 years of rich experience in the field of infertility segment. He loves to write about IVF, Surrogacy, and other ART (assisted reproductive technology) news, issues, and updates. He is a Pharmacy graduate (B. Pharm) and M.B.A (marketing).
His most recent success includes the successful launch of the medical tourism company, ARTbaby, which offers treatment options for infertility, egg donation, and surrogacy. He likes spending time with his family and writing about various aspects of IVF surrogacy and donating eggs.