Embryo Quality - how to improve.

Hi, I've recently had my first failed IVF cycle. 15 eggs were collected, and only 7 embryos survived. Thesr Embryos however were very low quality and only 1 made it to day 5 and was just reaching blastocyst stage. I've asked the Embryologist why quality was so low and how quality can be improved but she said she cannot answer this and it would be for the Fertility Consultant to answer. I would've thought the people who grow the Embryos were in the best position to answer these questions. Does anyone know anything about embryo quality? How it can be improved? What makes quality low?

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I’ve had 7 rounds of ivf, with the last one being successful. There were 3 things I changed for my final round: 1. Diet changes - I cut out sugar & beef as these both cause me inflammation, although subtle. I’m not one to eat a lot of vegetables but had around 8 a day between lunch & dinner, lots of eggs, fish, etc. 2. Supplements- I followed a list of supplements (loosely) suggested within the egg whisperer podcast. I added some from my own research & didn’t take one or 2 others. 3. I used the Yuka app to scan all the products I used from make up to shampoo, soap etc & only used the products rated excellent or good. The Yuka app allows you to scan barcodes & it gives you a traffic light system to indicate the level of hazardous chemicals in products. All of the above for 4 months prior to egg collection. Who knows whether these things helped or not but I started IVF at 23 & had my little girl at 40 & my egg quality was the best ever on my last round.x

Hi Becca, When you say 7 embryo survived I assume you mean 7 eggs fertilized ? If so it could also be a male factor ? Have you considered doing ICSI? Sometimes it’s bad luck as the quality like the number of your eggs can vary cycle to cycle. You might just need to try again. Supplement wise, Prenatal, CoQ10 and vitamin D have been proven to be beneficial. Best of luck 🍀 xxxx

It takes sperm to make an embryo so don’t blame yourself. Your partner needs to ensure he is bringing quality goods to the table too! Did you do ICSI?

My hubby & I both took Impryl supplements for a fair few months (recommended by 2 consultants) before our second round and his quality & count improved significantly, def worth looking into! I’m sure it helped me too. Then there’s the Mediterranean diet which is always recommended & cutting back on alcohol & coffee 🫶🏻

@Lorna oh wow that's amazing, so helpful thank you! Congratulations on your little girl!

@Francesca yes we had to change to ICSI because the sperm was lower quality than previously as well.

@Sarah amazing thank you so much! X

@Annia hi, yes we had to transfer to ICSI because the sperm quality wasn't as great as it had been in previous tests. Thank you for your helpful advice x