Know the facts about the AMH test in assessing your egg reserve
Fertility specialists will commonly request an Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) blood test as one of the first medical assessments for new patients.
There are two main reasons we use this test – firstly as an initial indicator to evaluate a patient’s egg reserve and secondly to test their response to fertility medication.
Importantly, the results of an AMH test is best interpreted by a fertility specialist, and the gold standard test to determine egg reserve is an antral follicle count (AFC) – a transvaginal ultrasound that counts ovarian antral follicles. An AFC is done ideally in the first half of a woman’s cycle, before ovulation.
What is the Anti-Mullerian Hormone test?
Women’s Health Week: Focusing on female infertility
City Fertility supports the Jean Hailes Women’s Health Week (6-10 September) which is dedicated to all women across Australia to make good health a priority.
If you’re currently focusing on your fertility health or planning, then there are plenty of things you can do to enhance your fertility and a range of treatments available if and when you need it.
The desire to become a parent is independent of sex, sexuality or gender identity, and there are also many different paths to parenthood, whether as a couple, shared or sole parenting, and they also include adoption, foster care and surrogacy.
Fathers’ Day – Making plans to be a dad
Planning and starting a family is deeply personal, emotional and exciting. But sometimes it can be a stressful experience when your plans for a family are not going as expected, and days of significance that bring families together, like Fathers’ Day, can be tough.
Future dads, as you know, you’ve got an equally important role to play in achieving a healthy pregnancy, and your sperm needs to be just as healthy as women’s eggs to get the best chances of a pregnancy.
Know the facts: Pregnancy and the COVID-19 Vaccine
If you are planning a pregnancy you are probably wondering if it is safe to have the COVID-19 vaccine and if so, should you have it now, wait until you are pregnant or have it after pregnancy?
The advice is that you can receive the Pfizer mRNA (Cominarty) vaccine if you are either planning a pregnancy or if you are currently pregnant.
The reasoning for getting vaccinated is that the potential risk of severe outcomes associated with actually contracting COVID-19 is significantly higher for pregnant women and their unborn baby.
When am I most fertile?
Knowing when the best time is to conceive each month is an important factor in helping achieve a successful pregnancy. Unfortunately, some patients miss getting this right which is delaying a positive outcome for them sooner rather than later.
Put simply, the timing of conception is critical to success, and by learning to understand your body’s menstrual cycle and the signs of ovulation, it may help you feel more in control.
Ovulation is when the egg is released from the ovary and is a female’s most fertile time of the month.
How men can optimise their fertility: 5 key factors to consider
To all the men out there, listen up…you also play a crucial role in helping achieve a healthy pregnancy, so don’t just leave it to the women. The health of both the sperm and eggs are equally important to optimising your chances of pregnancy.
There are several lifestyle factors you can control that will help enhance your fertility, but take note, for sperm it takes approximately two and a half months to see if changes to your lifestyle have improved your sperm quality.
So what are the biggest factors you can focus on? Here are some of the top priorities I recommend.
Chemicals could be ruining men’s chances of parenthood
An increasing body of research is supporting the belief that the chemicals we come across in our everyday lives are reducing fertility, particularly in men.
A recent book Count Down published in February 2021 by renowned epidemiologist Professor Shanna Swan asserts that the sperm count of Western men has plunged by more than 50 per cent in the past 40 years.
Professor Swan said we can’t keep blaming our fertility problems on delayed childbearing, choice or lifestyle. Chemicals are one of the main causes of fertility issues and they are everywhere surrounding us in our everyday lives from what we eat, breathe to the products we use.
Why fertility awareness education in Australia should be mandatory
When I tell people what I do for a living, one of the most common responses is something along the lines of: ‘wow, business must be booming with women leaving it so late these days.’
Trying to start a family in a woman’s late 30’s or early 40’s is hardly a new phenomenon. In fact, 20 years ago the American Society for Reproductive Medicine ran a controversial education campaign with billboards and magazine ads.
Is there a link between endometriosis and fertility?
Contrary to what we would expect, some women with the most severe endometriosis have been found to conceive naturally and have a good pregnancy, while some with milder cases of the condition struggle to conceive. So while there is often a link established between endometriosis and fertility, it is not always the case.
Will the Chinese Year of the Ox be your lucky year for a baby?
The start of the Chinese New Year is nearly upon us and begins on 12 February 2021. Babies born during this year will be born in the Year of the Ox.
In Chinese culture, the ox is a highly valued animal and babies born in the sign of the Ox are thought to be calm, fair-minded, dependable, honest and strong. These are all traits that are important to guide us through life.
If you are keen to try and have a baby in the Year of the Ox then here are a few fertility tips to help you on your way.
