Vitamins During IVF Increase Chances Of Successful Conception

05.12.2011

All women who are trying to have a baby should take special 'conception' vitamins after a study found fertility patients were twice as likely to get pregnant if they were taking them.

The research involved women who were having treatment to boost their fertility but as there were no side effects from taking the vitamins, scientists said all women who are trying to conceive should consider them.

In the study half of women were given a multivitamin and mineral tablet to take each day and half were given folic acid, recommended by government to prevent abnormalities in the baby.

Four weeks later they then had a fertility drug treatment.

Women on the vitamins were more likely to conceive and 60 per cent were still pregnant three months later compared to 25 per cent on folic acid.

They were also likely to fall pregnant after fewer fertility treatments with three quarters conceiving on their first cycle, compared with less than one in five of those on folic acid, it was found.

The study conducted by researchers at Warwick University involving 56 women attending University College London and the Royal Free Hospital fertility units.

The women, who were mostly from an affluent background, all had healthy diets at the beginning of the study and later blood tests showed those on the multivitamin had higher levels of micronutrients than those only taking folic acid.

The multivitamin used was Pregnacare Conception made by Vitabionics but the company did not commission, fund or influence the study. They provided the vitamins used which usually cost £10.15 for a pack of 30.

Lead author Dr Rina Agrawal, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and Associate Professor in Reproductive Medicine, said: "All women considering pregnancy should take a specifically formulated prenatal micronutrient supplement to optimise their chances of conception."

She said it is not known what components of the vitamin tablet had the effects on pregnancy but the Pregnacare Conception product used contained a range of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and substances linked to ovarian function and blood flow to the reproductive organs.

telegraph.co.uk