OVULATION INDUCTION

Some women have irregular menstrual cycles and don’t produce an egg each month. This is called anovulation and is usually due to  PCOS. Other causes include stress, weight loss or weight gain, or excessive production of a hormone called prolactin, which stimulates milk production in the breasts.

Anovulation is the most common cause of infertility and the easiest to treat. The treatment is call ovulation induction and the aim is to restore ovulation in the most natural way if possible. It involves the woman taking fertility drugs, either in the form of tablets or injections, to help the ovary produce and release a single egg or multiple eggs  each month. Injections are only used if there is no response to the mild stimulation. The response to the medication is monitored with a series of ultrasound scans in the first half of the cycle (follicle monitoring) and estradiol determination during the first half of the cycle and a hormone blood test for progesterone 7 days after ovulation.

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