Monday, 3 May 2010

Why the use of cheap fertility drugs should be monitored

There's an interesting comment piece on the BBC website from Professor Bill Ledger of Sheffield University about the risk of cheap fertility drugs leading to multiple births.

There is more now awareness about the dangers multiple births can cause both mothers and babies, and this has led fertility experts to try to put back just one embryo during IVF treatment when there is a good prognosis. However, many women with less serious fertility problems are initially treated with much simpler and cheaper fertility drugs. These drugs are sometimes prescribed by GPs or at general hospitals, and their use is not regulated by the HFEA. Drugs such as Clomid can still lead to multiple pregnancies if women are not properly monitored when they take them, and the comment calls for simple ultrasound scans for all women taking fertility drugs to ensure that they are not putting their own, and their future children's, health at risk.

You can read the piece on the BBC website

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