Taking Birth Control Pills Before IVF Treatment

Birth control will help to prevent pregnancy for both men and women. There are many different kinds of birth control, including contraceptives, diaphragms, condoms, etc. The birth control pill is a convenient and straightforward way to prevent pregnancy. Besides avoiding a pregnancy, taking birth control pills also has other benefits like reducing acne, making periods more regular and easing menstrual cramps. So many people who want to prevent pregnancy take the medication by mouth, and when taken correctly, it is up to 99.9% effective.

But taking birth control pills before IVF treatment can sound counterintuitive; during fertility treatments, women are always surprised by hearing this recommendation from a fertility specialist. Taking birth control pills will prepare a woman for the IVF cycle at the begging of the IVF process.

Reasons Why Birth Control Pills Can be Recommended to Use Before IVF Cycle

There are few reasons why birth control pills can be recommended by fertility doctor to use before infertility treatment:

BCPs (Birth control pills) can be used to ensure that a woman's ovaries release eggs simultaneously: both ovaries contain small, round and immature egg cells. Once they mature, one will grow faster than the other ones, and the other will stop growing. The one that has grown bigger will release a single egg. BCPs are used to make follicles grow at the same rate so that multiple egg retrieval procedure is possible for the treatment cycle.
Taking BCPs (birth control pills) can help reduce the possibility of cyst formation: BCPs help prevent ovarian cysts and improve insulin resistance in women with PCOS. They also decrease the risk of endometrial cancer in women.
BCPs ensure that ovaries respond better to stimulation: the fertility specialist can recommend taking birth control pills for ovarian stimulation. Before the ovarian stimulation, woman will take BCPs to stop the growth of the follicles. This process will help ovaries respond for stimulation medications and producing eggs.
BCPs will help to increase estrogen production: estrogen is essential in IVF treatment. It helps to grow and maintain your endometrial lining and sustain a pregnancy. It also helps your placenta function, boosts blood flow to your uterus and primes your body for breastfeeding.
BCPs help schedule the IVF treatment: birth control medication will help the doctor control the timing of many women fertility treatment. Also, in this way, the patient can plan treatment to avoid interfering with work schedules or vacations.

How Does Taking Birth Control Pills Work During the IVF Cycle?

If a woman got a recommendation from fertility specialist to take birth control pills before the IVF cycle, she needs to call the first day of her menstrual cycle. The IVF specialist will ask the woman to come to the clinic for an ultrasound and baseline during the next stage. If ultrasound results are expected, a woman can take the birth control pills each evening no later than day 5 of her cycle. Most birth control pills are arranged in four rows. The first three rows are active pills, but the fourth row does not contain any hormones. Therefore, if a woman finishes the third row of medications, she would not take the fourth row but instead start a new pack of pills the next day.

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Polina Pylypenko • August 20, 2021