Intrauterine Insemination
What is it?
It’s one of the assisted reproduction methods used in low complexity cases. It’s usually fast and painless. It is made inside the clinic, with no need of applying anesthesia.
This method consists in placing sperms inside a woman’s womb using a proper catheter. After monitoring the fertile period through ultrasonography, and after ovulation, the sperm is injected inside the womb, near the uterine tubes inner holes, through a delicate catheter, which passes though the vagina and the cervical canal. After insemination, the patient must take some rest at the clinic for a couple minutes, and only then, she might return to her daily activities.
The intrauterine artificial insemination is often recommended as a starting treatment in cases like the following:
- Insufficient sperm concentration or volume
- When the sperms are being blocked by the woman’s cervical mucus
- Sperm disturbances (regarding its normal concentration or mobility values)
In addition, it’s worth noting that this treatment can only be implemented after running proper exams.
Whom should do it?
If a couple already tried some other simpler treatments, like the ovarian stimulation and timed intercourse, and even so, they were unsuccessful, they may call upon the Intrauterine Insemination. This process is made after a woman’s ovulation induction. It’s possible to predict the ovulation day based on the follicle growth stimulated by the appliance of medicines, which can be monitored through ultrasonography.
The woman’s fertile period is then identified, and that’s the moment in which the sperm is put inside the womb. The clinic may also select the foremost sperms, therefore raising the chances of achieving success.
This technique may be recommended in the following cases:
- Women with normal uterine tubes
- Women having problems in ovulation
- When there’s a cervical issue that’s forbidding the egg cell fertilization, such as cases in which the sperm is blocked by the cervical mucus
- When a man presents less volume or concentration of sperm than it is needed
- Sperm disturbs, regarding their usual rates of concentration or mobility
The Intrauterine Insemination, just as any other assisted reproduction method, can only be applied after running the proper exams, so that we can choose the best way to solve the couple’s problem.