The Year of the Dragon is considered the most auspicious year by the Chinese, and children born in the Year of the Golden Dragon are believed to achieve both fame and wealth. Therefore, many parents plan their pregnancies to have a child during this year.
However, planning a pregnancy can be challenging for everyone. Beyond proper pregnancy planning and health checkups, you may encounter unforeseen obstacles like infertility.
Infertility
Infertility refers to a married couple who engage in regular intercourse without contraception but fail to conceive within one year or six months if the woman is over 35 years old.
Causes of Infertility
Infertility can be caused by abnormalities in either the man or the woman, or both.
Common Causes of Infertility in Women
- Hormonal imbalances affecting ovulation.
- Abnormal fallopian tubes, potentially caused by pelvic infection or uterine lining problems.
- Uterine growth or pelvic surgery.
- Abnormalities of the uterus and cervix that prevent sperm from fertilizing the egg.
- Premature menopause.
- Health problems and chronic diseases.
- Stress and anxiety.
Common Causes of Male Infertility
- Low sperm count and other sperm problems like low motility and blocked vas deferens.
- Problems with ejaculation or sexual dysfunction.
- Genetic diseases affecting sperm production.
- Swollen veins in the testicle affecting semen quality.
- Hormonal imbalances.
- Congenital diseases.
- Hard work and stress.
Infertility Treatment
Treatment for Infertility depends on the identified cause and involves steps to induce a natural pregnancy, such as medication to stimulate testicular function, identifying hormonal abnormalities related to ovarian function, and considering surgery for uterine tumors.
However, several irreversible causes necessitate assisted reproductive technology to help couples conceive, including:
- Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) This treatment method is suitable for those with fewer problems. It involves injecting selected sperm into the egg within the female body following ovulation stimulation. This method takes regarding two weeks.
- In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) This treatment is used for infertility where the cause is ineffective or cannot be determined. The treatment takes regarding three weeks.
The pregnancy rate from assisted reproductive technology is approximately 30%. However, the rate depends on the woman’s age, and the chance of pregnancy increases with the number of treatment cycles.
Prenatal Health Check
Prenatal health checkups help prevent serious diseases from being passed on to your baby. Basic checkups for men and women are similar, but additional checks may be conducted in detail, as follows:
Further Testing in Women
- Cervical cancer screening (HPV+Thin Prep)
- Transvaginal Ultrasound (TVS) to assess the uterus and ovaries
- Hormone levels, ovarian maturity AMH – Anti-Mullerian Hormone
- Fallopian tube examination
Further Testing in Men
- Semen Analysis
- Testosterone hormone test
- PSA test to analyze prostate cancer
- Adrenal hormone test (DHEA-S)
Pre-Pregnancy Genetic Testing
In addition to basic pre-pregnancy health checks to prevent infectious diseases, screening for recessive gene carriers found in certain groups of diseases caused by abnormalities from the father or mother passed on to the child, has a chance of having a child with a severe recessive genetic disease of up to 25%.
Pre-pregnancy gene testing can screen and diagnose abnormalities in over 400 recessive genes, reducing the risk of the child being born with the disease. If a genetic disease risk is detected and the couple still wishes to have children, the doctor will screen for embryos without the abnormal gene. Then, the healthy embryos will be placed back into the uterus. This helps couples struggling with infertility have the opportunity to become pregnant with a child without the abnormal gene through embryo screening.
In cases of abnormal embryo implantation, technology exists to detect the cause and solve the problem further. (Read more: https://www.samitivejhospitals.com/th/page/preconception-screening)
Who is Suitable for Pre-Pregnancy Genetic Testing?
- Individuals with genetic diseases or a family history of genetic diseases.
- People experiencing infertility who want to prevent genetic diseases passed from parents to children.
Individualized Prenatal Care
Mothers should immediately seek prenatal care as soon as they know they are pregnant. The first pregnancy checkup should not be later than 12 weeks of pregnancy and should be done every 1-2 months until delivery or as the doctor deems necessary.
Currently, medicine has advanced knowledge and technology, considering the differences in genes, environment, and lifestyle of each person, leading to precision medicine for individual healthcare, disease prevention, and treatment. This is similar to family planning and personalized prenatal care (Personalized Obstetrics) that focuses on individual pregnancy care, from the beginning of pregnancy planning, preventing complications during pregnancy, to achieving a healthy childbirth.
Individualized prenatal care helps prevent, diagnose, and correct treatment early, such as premature birth and preeclampsia. Additionally, personalized prenatal care can help pregnant mothers over 35 years old use a maternal blood test instead of amniocentesis to reduce genetic problems in the fetus.
Infertility and Prenatal Health Checks: Planning for a Healthy Pregnancy in the Year of the Dragon
As the Year of the Dragon is believed by the Chinese to be the most auspicious year, and it is believed that children born in the Year of the Golden Dragon will be successful in both fame and wealth, many parents plan their pregnancy in order to give birth in the Year of the Golden Dragon.
But planning to have a child may not be easy for everyone. Because in addition to planning a pregnancy properly and having a health check-up before having a child, you may encounter unexpected hidden problems, which are: Infertility
Infertility
Infertility means a married couple who have regular intercourse without contraception but cannot conceive within 1 year or 6 months if the woman is over 35 years old.
Causes of Infertility
Infertility can be caused by abnormalities in either the man or the woman, or both.
Common Causes of Infertility in Women
- Hormonal imbalance affects ovulation.
- Abnormal fallopian tubes may be caused by pelvic infection, uterine lining.
- Uterine growth or pelvic surgery
- Abnormalities of the uterus and cervix prevent sperm from fertilizing the egg.
- Premature menopause
- Health problems, chronic diseases
- Stress, anxiety
Common Causes of Male Infertility
- Low sperm count and other sperm problems such as low motility and blocked vas deferens
- Having problems with ejaculation or sexual dysfunction
- Genetic diseases that affect sperm production
- Swollen veins in the testicle affect the quality of semen.
- Hormonal imbalance
- Congenital disease
- Hard work, stress
Infertility Treatment
Treatment for Infertility depends on the cause that is detected and treated according to the steps by trying to induce a natural pregnancy, such as giving drugs to stimulate the function of the testicles, looking for hormonal abnormalities related to the function of the ovaries, and considering surgery for uterine tumors.
However, there are many irreversible causes that require assisted reproductive technology to help couples conceive, including:
- Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) It is a treatment method for those who do not have many problems. It involves injecting selected sperm into the egg in the female body that has been stimulated to ovulate. This method takes regarding 2 weeks to treat.
- In vitro fertilization (IVF) It is a treatment for infertility where the cause is ineffective or cannot be determined. The treatment takes regarding 3 weeks.
The pregnancy rate from assisted reproductive technology is approximately 30%. However, the pregnancy rate depends on the woman’s age and the chance of pregnancy increases with the number of treatment cycles.
Prenatal Health Check
Prenatal health check-ups are a way to prevent serious diseases that are passed on to your baby. Basic check-ups for men and women are not different, but additional check-ups may be conducted in detail, as follows:
Further testing in women
- Cervical cancer screening (HPV+Thin Prep)
- Transvaginal Ultrasound (TVS) to assess the uterus and ovaries
- Hormone levels, ovarian maturity AMH – Anti-Mullerian Hormone
- Fallopian tube examination
Further testing in men
- Semen Analysis
- Testosterone hormone test
- PSA test to analyze prostate cancer
- Adrenal hormone test (DHEA-S)
Pre-pregnancy Genetic Testing
In addition to basic pre-pregnancy health checks to prevent infectious diseases, screening for recessive gene carriers is found in certain groups of diseases caused by abnormalities from the father or mother that are passed on to the child, which has a chance of having a child with a severe recessive genetic disease of up to 25%.
Pre-pregnancy gene testing can screen and diagnose abnormalities in over 400 recessive genes, which helps reduce the risk of the child being born with the disease. If a genetic disease risk is detected and the couple still wants to have children, the doctor will screen for embryos that do not have the abnormal gene. Then, the healthy embryos will be placed back into the uterus. This helps couples who have difficulty having children have the opportunity to become pregnant with a child that does not have the abnormal gene from the embryo screening.
In cases where there is an abnormality in embryo implantation, there is still technology to detect the cause in order to solve the problem further. (Read more: https://www.samitivejhospitals.com/th/page/preconception-screening)
Who is Suitable for Pre-pregnancy Genetic Testing?
- People who have genetic diseases or have a family history of genetic diseases
- People who are experiencing infertility want to prevent genetic diseases that are passed from parents to their children.
Individualized Prenatal Care
Mothers should immediately go for prenatal care as soon as they know they are pregnant. The first pregnancy check-up should not be later than 12 weeks of pregnancy and should be done every 1-2 months until delivery or as the doctor sees fit.
At present, medicine has developed knowledge and technology, taking into account the differences in genes, environment, and lifestyle of each person, leading to precision medicine for individual health care, prevention, and treatment of diseases, similar to family planning and personalized prenatal care (Personalized Obstetrics) that focuses on individual pregnancy care, from the beginning of pregnancy planning, prevention of complications during pregnancy, to healthy childbirth.
Individualized prenatal care to prevent, diagnose and correct early treatment, such as premature birth and preeclampsia. In addition, individualized prenatal care can also help pregnant mothers over 35 years old to use maternal blood test instead of amniocentesis to reduce genetic problems of the fetus.
Parents who want to have children should take care of their health to prepare for pregnancy. In case of irregular menstruation, stress or anxiety, they may undergo infertility screening, including pre-pregnancy health screening and pre-pregnancy gene screening to plan for having a healthy and complete child.
