Pregnancy tips Bacteria May Sabotage IVF Success

After going through a number of failed IVF's, I found this article interesting. Apparently there's a high rate of bacteria present in women with failed IVF's. Read more:

Rogue bacteria suspected in IVF failures (insciences.org)

From the article:

"Our findings were startling: we found 21 of the 31 FF samples contained one or more microorganisms. This in itself was contrary to accepted thought because it was believed the fluid surrounding the ovum was sterile," Dr Knox said.

This finding prompted a larger study by QUT PhD researcher Elise Pelzer, under a Wesley Research Institute scholarship, working with Dr Knox.

"We tested the FF of 148 women and found bacteria present in the fluid of 99 per cent of the women tested. Only the FF from one woman was sterile," Dr Knox said.

"By testing both vaginal swabs and FF we found that in some women bacteria present in the lower genital tract was transferred to the FF at the time of egg pick-up by the procedure TVOR (transvaginal oocyte, or ovum, retrieval).

"In this process ripened eggs are removed from the ovary by a needle through the vagina. In other women, we found the FF had been infected with unique bacteria not found in the lower genital tract.

"When we looked at pregnancy outcomes in the early study, we found that only 25 per cent of women with FF colonised with unique bacterial species achieved a successful pregnancy," she said.

"By contrast, bacteria introduced into the FF at the time of TVOR did not have the same effect and 50 per cent of these women achieved a successful pregnancy.

"Even though similar numbers of oocytes were collected at the time of TVOR from both groups of women, we also found that eggs from women with colonised FF had a lower rate of fertilisation to start with, which, of course, meant they produced fewer embryos for transfer to the womb."