WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU COME TO THE HOSPITAL?

When you go into labour:

* Avoid consuming heavy stuff like milk, ghee or dry fruits before coming to the hospital and take clear liquids or nothing till the doctor examines you. Thereafter, the doctor will advise you about your diet
* You should carry your reports to the admission desk
* You will be taken to the labour delivery complex and the nurse will guide you to your room and help you change into a hospital gown or a nightdress. Also, she will check your vitals and baby's heartbeat
* The doctor will examine you regularly to see how far you have progressed. Also, the baby's heartbeat will be checked at regular intervals or continuously with an electronic foetal monitor in case of any concern
* Some blood test might be done when you get admitted
* You can have clear liquids but your doctor may instruct you not to consume anything by mouth in case there are chances of a caesarean section
* An IV line may be essential for women requiring extra fluids, in case of certain types of pain relief, and if the labour is induced or augmented
* After discussing with your doctor, you can take the pain relief, if required


HOW TO COPE WITH THE LABOUR PAIN?

Fear makes pain worse. Everyone feels frightened of what they do not understand or cannot control. Therefore, it is essential to understand and learn about the labour.
You can follow these steps to cope with the stress of labour:

* Learn to relax as it will help you to stay calm
* Your position can also make a difference. Some women like to kneel, walk around or rock backwards and forwards
* Back massage can also help. You may ask your partner to do it for you
* Feeling in control of what is happening to you is important. So do not hesitate to ask questions or to ask for anything you want at any time
* Having a partner, friend or relative you can lean on and who can support you during labour, certainly helps. It has been shown to reduce the need for pain relief. But even if you do not have anyone, don't worry; our nurses will give you the support you need
* Finally, no one can tell you what your labour can feel like in

advance. Even if you think you would prefer not to have pain relief, keep an open mind. In some instances it can help to make your labour more enjoyable and fulfilling

WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE DELIVERY BY CAESAREAN SECTION?

During caesarean delivery, the doctor makes an incision in the pregnant women's abdomen to get the delivery done. In this case, the women will be under anaesthesia.

Normally, 15% - 25% of deliveries are caesarean deliveries; amongst them some are planned while others may be due to emergency.

Most common reasons for caesarean delivery are:

• Baby needs quick delivery
• Baby is not in head down position
• Baby's head does not fit in the birth passage
• Labour does not progress as expected
• Mother's or baby's health is at risk

You should carry loose fitted and easy to wear clothes for yourself and for the baby, you must carry a cap, some nappies and a shawl or blanket.
In case of normal delivery, you can go home within 2-3 days while in case of a caesarean delivery; you can go home within 3-4 days, only on doctors' advice.
If you have any concerns about yourself and your baby and how to take care of the newborn, you can discuss them with your obstetrician and paediatrician.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE NORMAL DELIVERY?

During the normal delivery, the labour contractions open the cervix in a slow manner. Once the cervix is open entirely, the contractions help in pushing the baby through the birth canal (vagina). In most of the cases, baby's head comes first which is followed by shoulders and the rest of the body, while in other cases where some women find it difficult,the doctors may use forceps or suction cup only after your permission. Also, several women choose different birthing positions like bending, or semi reclining.
You may get small tear in the region of vaginal opening during the delivery and if your vaginal opening is very close, the doctor may make a small cut around it, to increase the tear (episiotomy). Mostly, these tears need stitches but they dissolve during the healing process. These tears may make you uneasy for a few days.
Generally, the placenta comes out easily after delivery, while in few cases, the doctor removes it manually under anaesthesia when it does not come out on its own. Also, some women lose small amount of blood during the delivery, but if the amount of blood loss is greater, blood transfusion may be required.

Diet regulations for Pregnancy Care

Diet regulation will be suggested for pregnant women. Ayurveda diet provides adequate nutrition as well as rest for the needed organs. The food consumed will have high concentration of proteins, vitamins and minerals.

The embryo is nourished directly through the umbilical cord. The food the pregnant woman consumes has to be highly nutritious as the physical and mental growth of the child is determined by the type and quantity of food consumed. Consumption of liquid diets and fruits that are easily digested are recommended at this time. Consumption of medicated ghee is encouraged. Pregnant women should take care to avoid constipation at all costs and incase she is affected, mild laxatives can be taken.

In the first month, milk and a light diet is recommended; in the second and third months, milk medicated with life-building herbs such as Vidari, Shatavari (Asparagus), Yashtimadhu (Licorice) and Brahmi are prescribed along with honey and ghee. Brahmi helps in calming the nerves and is also a good prajasthapan (sustainer of pregnancy).

Ayurveda considers consumption of milk to be of utmost importance as it is a source of calcium, protein, lactose and butter fat. Milk is a complete food and can be consumed at any time. From the seventh month onwards, consumption of fat and salts should be reduced. However, rice kanji with ghee is beneficial. Also herbs such as gokshura and sariba that are mild diuretics and urinary antiseptics can be taken during this period. Medicated ghee preparations (Griha) like phala sarpis, kalyaanaka gritham and sukha prasava gritham can be consumed.

One should consume large amounts of water through out the day as this will help to flush out the waste matter through the urine. The intake of fruits should be increased. However, it is the ayurveda doctor who will prescribe the most suitable diet for the pregnant woman. You can find out your type of Prakruthi and decide a diet for yourself Yoga, meditation and Life Style.

Yoga and life style for Pregnancy Care

form a vital constituent of all ayurveda treatments and is especially beneficial for pregnant mothers. Mountain pose, Triangle pose, Warrior pose, Standing side stretch, Forward bend pose, Corpse pose, Cat pose and Fish pose are recommended during pregnancy.

Yoga and meditation are proven and effective ways to develop and maintain perfect harmony and balance in body systems. It improves emotional health of the pregnant women, reduces pregnancy side effects like headaches, fatigue and constipation, provides immunity against all diseases and alters brain wave activities reflecting in an increased relaxation and a better focused mind.

Life style: The pregnant mother should always remain calm, cool and mentally happy. She should avoid mental stress, heated arguments, tension and worry as the mental health of the offspring will relate to that of the mother. A regular massage is recommended as also steam baths. She should also maintain personal hygiene and take utmost care to maintain good bowel movements. She should be careful in her movements and should avoid falling to the ground or meeting with accidents.

Light exercises such as walking and swimming are recommended as these can reduce the length of labor, reduce recovery time and provide stamina needed for delivery. Studies have revealed that exercises can reduce the risk of pre mature birth by about 50 %. The pregnant mother should avoid strenuous exercise, late nights, too much television and other stimulating experiences.

Body Literacy Project

This is a sex education programme for schools. The school prgramme, is part of a larger project called the Body Literacy Project where children, teachers and parents explore

* what we are, how we came to be,
* how our bodies function
* all that is essential to lead a healthy life, physically, emotionally and socially.

It rests on the premise that an understanding of body and mind should be approached both biologically and socially. An understanding that our bodies share more similarities than differences would promote a greater sense of equality and a rational way of thinking. Media images and stereotypes put on young children strong pressures. Differences are socially constructed. So are the images related to the body.

Ignorance is seen with the internal as well as reproductive and sexual parts of the body. These may result in great sense of confusion in all, and especially among children in puberty ages, or for those wishing to prevent/or those who may wish for pregnancy, or even in women in menopausal ages. 'Body Literacy’ here attempts to fill the gap in knowledge and practice by encouraging a ‘friendship’ with and an understanding of one’s own body. Within our curriculum we bring the discussion of diverse sexual expression including homosexuality. While sexuality and everything that influences healthy sexuality, such as gender and power is at the core of our school programme, we also deal with body in its totality.

Child Harassment and Abuse are also complex areas. How do we equip children to say 'no'? How do we teach girls that when they say 'yes' it should be on their own terms - not to please someone else? We work towards de-linking in boys the image that aggression and violence, or vigour and power mean real men. Through our school outreach programmes, through movies, cartoons and discussions children are made aware of the difference between good touch and bad touch. We also have sessions with parents and teachers on child sexual abuse.

The very term ' Body Literacy' makes the sessions more acceptable to parents, teachers and children. And this is important, as the gender sessions simultaneously work as rapport building sessions. "This is dirty", and "we do not want to talk about this" are some of the children's reactions and we build up our discussions from these.

Fertility and Sexuality Awareness

Sexuality and Fertility Awareness (FA) education as part of ‘body literacy’ is a core area of Tathapi's work, involving not only bodily experience of the 'reproductive system' but also the socio-cultural and political experience of women's health.

Others tend to view FA as a natural birth control method but we see it more basically, as a woman's skilled ability 'to read' subtle feelings and body signs during her menstrual cycle. These signs tell of the natural states of fertility and infertility - that is, when she can conceive and when not. They also help her tell what is 'normal' in her own body from what is not. They tell her if she has ovulated or not, let her predict her next menstrual period, and inform her very early if she is pregnant.

FA gives girls and women a chance to reclaim power over their reproductivity and sexuality, and over many myths and misconceptions that restrict them. It helps understand the subtleties of sexuality and negotiate relationships with others, including men. It gives space for men to take responsibility for reproduction and demands equal relations between women and men.

This self-help approach for women draws from indigenous healing systems, from modern scientific discoveries, and from the women’s liberation movement.

The need for sexuality and fertility awareness education in terms of ‘body literacy’ in our Indian context:

In most of India even today, acquiring FA has sensitive and crucial social implications...

* The fact that a woman produces an 'egg' is traditionally unknown. The cultural image is of a man planting his ‘seed’ (beeja) in a woman's body as if she is the earth, or rather his field (kshetra). So even discovering that they have ‘half of the seed’ is empowering for women, and FA is much more.
* Restriction of girls' knowledge and mobility is to keep them 'innocent' and 'protected'. Parents opt to curtail their daughters’ education and marry them off early, but this lays them open to unprotected sexual encounters and abuses, even in the home. Girls and women need to know and be free.
* FA allows the skillful practice of contraception, helping to decide what to do and when. It is not a contraceptive device to 'use' by itself, but involves feeling, thinking, deciding and acting on the options. Birth control methods may be compatible or incompatible with our body and our fertility.

Child Born & Literacy

At the national level, the mean number of children ever born per woman (in agegroup 45-49 years)- which implies the level of ‘period fertility’- is 3.8 in 2001 against 4.3 in 1991, showing a decline of 10 percent during the decade 1991- 2001. The mean number of children for illiterates and literates in 2001 being 4.2 and 3.3 respectively against 4.4 and 3.8 respectively in 1991 shows a decline of 4.9 and 14.6 respectively for illiterates and literates during the decade 1991-2001.

It is observed that the level of education and the fertility rates are inversely related. The negative correlation between these two is stronger when the fertility is high and as the fertility comes down and reaches a certain minimum level, the intensity of correlation becomes weaker. The data reveals that at the lowest level of education (below middle level), the decline in the mean number of children is 13.7 percent (4.3 to 3.7), whereas among graduates and above, it is 7.0 percent (2.3 to 2.1).

The TFR, which represents the current fertility rate, is 2.52 for all women in 2001, whereas it is 3.09 for illiterates and 2.02 for literates. TFR is going down with the increase in the level of education starting from a high of 2.37 among ‘literates but below middle’ and reaching a low of 1.35 among ‘graduates and above’.

The data suggests that the education is undoubtedly one of the most potent instruments to bring down the total fertility rates, especially, in areas where the fertility rates are higher and the female literacy rates are lower. The data suggest that if the females acquire education upto matric or secondary level, the desired level of fertility rate (replacement level) of 2.1 or even less than that may not be difficult to achieve.

Role Of Vitamins and minerals

Vitamins and minerals help your body use the energy provided by foods for both yourself and your baby. They also help repair and maintain cells and tissues.

You can get most of the vitamins and minerals you need from a healthy diet. Because it may be hard to get enough iron, folic acid and calcium from food, many women take a prenatal vitamin every day.
Folic acid is one of the vitamins included in most prenatal vitamins. The Institute of Medicine recommends that women consume 600 micrograms of folic acid every day (from supplements and food sources) once they know they’re pregnant. Most prenatal vitamins contain this amount or up to 1,000 micrograms of folic acid.

What you can do:
Take your prenatal vitamin every day. Take vitamins as directed.
Read the label and talk to your health care provider.
Do not take additional vitamins and minerals unless your health care provider says that you should. Large amounts of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin A, can be harmful. Do not take more than 5,000 IU (international units) of vitamin A a day. Do not take more than 1,000 micrograms (or 1 milligram) of folic acid without talking to your provider.

Choose a diet that includes a variety of healthy, nutritious foods.
What are some good choices? Fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads and pastas, milk products, and low-fat protein sources such as lean red meat, beans, tofu, poultry and some fish. (See Food safety for a list of fish that are off-limits for pregnant women.)

If you have trouble digesting lactose (the natural sugar found in milk), lactose-reduced milk products and calcium-fortified orange juice can help you get enough calcium.

Infertility

Infertility is a condition that makes it difficult or impossible for a man or woman to have a child. Both men and women can be infertile.

About 1 in 10 couples in the United States have fertility problems.
You should talk to your health care provider about the possibility of fertility problems:
* If you and your partner don't get pregnant after trying for 12 months.
* If you are a woman over the age of 35 who doesn't get pregnant after trying for 6-10 months. Older women are more likely to have fertility problems than younger women.


Causes
Infertility can be caused by many things, including:

* Problems with ovulation (a woman's ability to produce an egg)
* Problems with sperm in men (amount, quality or both)
* Aging (fertility declines as men and women age)
* Sexually transmitted infections
* Other reproductive infections
* Genetic conditions
* Certain chronic illnesses, such as diabetes or Hodgkin's disease
* Damage to the reproductive organs
* Smoking, drinking and drugs
* Exposure to radiation and certain chemicals, such as pesticides
* Cancer treatment
Often couples have more than one reason for infertility.


Finding a Doctor
Most couples begin by seeing an obstetrician-gynecologist or their family doctor. Because infertility is a highly technical field of medicine, talk with your doctor about whether you should see a specialist.

Advanced medical training is needed to be a specialist. Doctors often study the fields of reproductive endocrinology for women and urology for men. Specialists are more likely than other doctors to offer a variety of treatments, including formation about their risks and benefits. They may be helpful with both nonsurgical and surgical fertility treatments (see below).

Diagnosis and Treatment
For both women and men, the doctor performs a physical examination, takes a medical history and, sometimes, orders specialized tests.When a possible cause of infertility is found, the most common treatments are:

* Giving medications to the woman to help her body release eggs (ovulate).
* Performing surgery on the man or woman to repair part of the reproductive system.
For instance, a woman may have scars in herfallopian tubes. These tubes carry the eggs to the uterus (womb). A man may have a problem that makes it hard for sperm to flow normally. Conditions such as these can often be corrected with surgery.

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), most infertility cases (85-90 percent) are treated with drugs or surgery.

More advanced types of infertility treatment include:

* Inserting sperm from the man or a donor into the woman's uterus. This is called artificial insemination or intrauterine insemination (IUI).
* Assisted reproductive technologies (ART). A woman's eggs are surgically removed, combined with sperm in the laboratory, and then returned to her body. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most common ART procedure.

Couples sometimes choose to ask another person to donate eggs, spermor an embryo. (Embryo is the word for the human organism from conception until approximately the eighth week.) Others make an agreement with a woman to bear a child for them. These choices involve serious ethical and legal issues and should be made with care.

Spotlight on Exercise.

It used to be that pregnancy offered a good reason to sit down and put your feet up. But times have changed for pregnant women in good health. In January 2002, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released new recommendations on exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period that encourage many more women to get up and get fit while pregnant.


What the Guidelines Say
According to ACOG's guidelines, unless there are medical reasons toavoid it, pregnant women can and should try to exercise moderately for at least 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.

Why Exercise Is Good for You?
In the short term, exercise helps all of us feel better physically and emotionally, and the calories burned help prevent excessive weight gain. People who exercise regularly develop stronger muscles, bones and joints. And over time, the benefits of regular exercise are even more impressive: lower risk of premature death, heart disease and other serious illnesses.For pregnant women, exercise has added benefits. It can help prevent gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that sometimes develops
during pregnancy. For women who already have gestational diabetes, regular exercise and changes in diet can help control the disease.

Before You Start
Before you go out and run a marathon, talk with your health care provider. Not all pregnant women should exercise, especially if they are at risk of preterm labor or suffer from a serious ailment, such as heart or lung disease. So check with your health care provider before you start an exercise program.
Next, decide what type of exercise you will do. Pick things you think you will enjoy. You may want to try several things. For example, brisk walking for 30 minutes or more is an excellent way to get the aerobic benefits of exercise, and you don't need to join a health club or buy any special equipment. You could also run, hike
or dance, if you like. Swimming is another sport that is especially good for pregnant women. The water supports the weight of your growing body and provides resistance that helps bring your heart rate up. You can also look around for aerobics and yoga classes designed for pregnant women. You may find that a variety of activities helps keep you motivated to continue exercising throughout your pregnancy—and beyond.Be careful when choosing a sport. Avoid any activities that put you at high risk for injury, such as horseback riding or downhill skiing. Stay away from sports in which you could get hit in the belly, such as ice hockey, kickboxing or soccer. Especially after the third month, avoid exercises that require you to lie flat on your back. Lying on your back can restrict the flow of blood to the uterus and endanger your baby. Finally, never scuba dive. This sport may lead to dangerous gas bubbles in the baby's circulatory system.When you exercise, pay attention to your body and how you feel.

Don't overdo it—try to build up your level of fitness gradually. If you have any serious problems, such as vaginal bleeding, dizziness, headaches, chest pain, decreased fetal movement or contractions, stop exercising and contact your health care provider immediately.With a little bit of caution, you can achieve or maintain a level of fitness that would shock your grandmother. You'll feel and look better. And yes, you can still put your feet up—after you've come back from your walk.

Calculating your due date

This interactive Due Date Calculator will help you estimate the date your baby will arrive. Pregnancy usually lasts 280 days (40 weeks)from the first day of the woman's last menstrual period.
Well but Every pregnancy is unique, and sometimes babies arrive sooner or later than expected. Always talk to your health care provider about your due date.Once you're pregnant, be sure to have regular checkups by a doctor, certified nurse-midwife or other health care professional during the course of your pregnancy. The goal of prenatal care is to monitor the progress of a pregnancy and to identify potential problems before they become serious for either the mother or the baby.

DNA extraction

Residual ThinPrep (Cytyc Corporation, Boxborough, MA) cervical samples previously tested for HPV using the Roche line blot assay [9] were used in this study. Twenty
samples containing 24 of the 27 HPV types on the reverse line blot were selected for extraction and testing. (No samples were positive for HPV 53, 55, and 57.) Therefore a total of 21 HPV types could be evaluated (there were 22 HPV capture and signal probes minus no clinical sample containing HPV 53 leaves 21 possible HPV type answers). Samples were coded so that investigators were blinded to the presence of multiple HPV types. DNA was extractedfrom 250 µL aliquots by using the QIAmp DNA Mini Kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, CA). The procedure provided with the kit was followed except that the proteinase Kdigestion was done overnight at 56°C. Following DNA elution from the column, DNA was concentrated in a Centricon Centrifugal Filter Device YM-100 (Millipore
Corporation, Bedford MA) according to manufacturer's specifications. Each DNA sample was brought to 50 µLwith the addition of ultra pure water.

Terminalogy 2

Sporadic research reports continued to investigate egg freezing principally in animal models, and occasionally in the human. However, these reports tended to underline the complications and lack of consistency between cross-species comparisons. For example, while the mouse can be a useful model it must be remembered that its eggs are only just over half the volume of the human egg, and this can have a major impact on the approach to cryopreservation in these two very different species cell types. Eventually though, driven by a series of papers published by an Australian researcher called Debbie Gook from Melbourne, clinical application of egg cryopreservation began to find favor by the middle of the nineties.Recently then, the early successes have been reproduced by others in both Italy and the USA giving rise conservatively to 10 babies from the freezing of women’s own eggs. Also at least one other baby has arisen from a clinical circumstance that is not completely unfamiliar to IVF clinics. n this case eggs had been collected during a routine IVF case, but no sperm were retrievable for insemination. So the oocytes were frozen, and donor semen was selected for a later IVF attempt. Ultimately both sets of gametes were thawed and used in a bsequent IVF procedure, which achieved a health delivery. This rather specific area of plication is of great potential benefit to infertile couples undergoing IVF
therapy where perhaps problems arise unexpectedly necessitating a halt to treatment prior to insemination of the eggs with sperm. For example, in another actual situation where an IVF couple suffered an untimely death in the family at the time of their procedure, they then chose to freeze all the eggs that had been retrieved until such time as they felt able to move forward with their therapy.All of these pregnancies and reports arose from work with frozen-thawed mature oocytes , but for one notable exception, where a pregnancy arose from an immature germinal vesicle (GV) stage egg. This may not sound to be of such great importance, but it could be that this stage of egg development may prove to be a more successful approach for egg cryopreservation. Such “young” eggs are approximately one to two days away from full maturity, and as such require further growth in the laboratory in culture after thawing. They currently appear as a by-product of less than optimal ovarian stimulation for IVF where not all eggs collected are mature. However, they survive
freezing well, and possess certain features that help to maintain their integrity during the rigors of cryopreservation. For example, their membranes are more permeable to the cryoprotectant (“antifreeze”), and their chromosomes are more conveniently and safely packaged in the nucleus protecting them from disruption. Such eggs, however, still have to undergo nuclear breakdown and full maturation before they can be fertilized, and therefore their developmental competency is not so clearly established as with fully mature oocytes that are frozen. The source of
these GV eggs, and whether they have been exposed to any external hormones may play a key role in the competency of these eggs. Harvesting of these eggs and the conditions for maturation remains to be resolved fully. But provisional studies in this area
are the first to lend credence to the possibility that immature follicles and the immature eggs inside isolated from ovarian tissue, may one day be fully grown in the laboratory outside of the body.How does Cryopreservation work, and what are the

Terminology

It is worthwhile becoming comfortable with the technical terms for several of the words that will be used interchangeably in this chapter, and in case you wish to make more comprehensive searches of the literature, such explanation of terms will improve
your level of understanding. Firstly, the rather loose term egg is usually referred to as an oocyte by biologists, which is the unfertilized female gamete (sex cell). The sperm(atozoon) is the male counterpart gamete. Cryopreservation is the very
specific term for all stages involved in the cryostorage of the oocyte, and refers to the freezing, storage and the thawing processes. Cryoprotectant is the term used to refer to the fluid that is used to place the eggs in prior to freezing, and is usually a mixture of sugars and organic chemical liquids that are designed to buffer the egg cell during the stresses of freezing and thawing.To put egg freezing into context, it is interesting to consider that human sperm (spermatozoa) have been successfully frozen for decades, and that the first successful report of human embryo freezing that generated a pregnancy was in 1983. Subsequently both human sperm and embryo cryopreservation have become considered routine and consistent technologies.
Frustratingly human egg freezing has not yet reached such apparent levels of acceptance or consistency.The technology so far applied clinically has been based directly on traditional human embryo cryopreservation protocols, and has produced relatively few offspring when compared with human embryo cryopreservation. ortunately to date, no abnormalities have been reported from these pregnancies, regardless of the persistent concerns that freezing and thawing of mature oocytes may disrupt the chromosomal apparatus in these cells (meiotic spindle), and so increase the potential for chromosome abnormalities (aneuploidy) in the embryos that arise from such eggs. With respect to cryostorage of donated oocytes, for use eventually as eggs to donate to recipient women, there have been several reports that have shown some success with
this approach. In fact, it has been reported that there have been 10 babies born from frozen-thawed donor oocytes. In another unusual case, frozen donor eggs after thawing have been used, not for whole egg donation, but actually for ooplasmic transfer which
gave rise to the successful delivery of a twin following thawed ooplasmic donation. In this procedure the cytoplasm of the egg was injected into the eggs of another woman. The cytoplasm is the part of the egg outside of the nucleus that does not
contain the genetic elements (chromosomes), but contains elements of cellular unctioning. Transfer of this is thought to bolster the quality of the recipient egg making it healthier, and possibly more likely to give rise to a healthy embryo.
The first successful cryostorage of women’s own oocytes occurred with the reporting of three births over a decade ago by two centers in Australia and
Germany. However, at that time reports of egg freezing studies in mice suggested that although eggs could survive freezing and thawig, they might possess higher levels of chromosomal anomalies following this procedure when compared to fresh eggs. Of note, is the fact that these studies were not performed on human tissue, and the procedures used were totally different from that utilized with the successful human egg freezing cases.Nevertheless, the suspicion of this problem was enough to prompt a sort of voluntary worldwide moratorium on clinical oocyte cryopreservation, until studies prove the fear of chromosomal abnormalities to be unsubstantiated. Unfortunately for oocyte freezing research, human embryo cryopreservation was just starting to be undertaken much more routinely and successfully in the mid-eighties, due to the
growing ethical concerns with the fate of surplus embryos following in vitro fertilization (IVF). This presented a pressing clinical problem that drove embryo freezing research, while egg freezing languished without any clear clinical need, worsened still by the worries over its safety.