So, what happens after embryo transfer? What do you do after the procedure and are there really no symptoms after embryo transfer? How many days should you rest and what should you do? There is much mythology regarding what to do after the embryo transfer period. What precautions should be taken? Programs vary widely in their recommendations for activity after the transfer. We’ve had patients tell us that they were told to lie motionless for several days. Many patients spend the entire 11 days between transfer and pregnancy test in bed, and patients often express intense feelings of guilt and remorse if they have to move about more than they think they should be.
In a word, this is all nonsense.
We recommend lying down for 30 minutes after transfer. We fully believe that is 28 minutes too long. The uterus is a potential space, meaning that walls of the uterus quickly envelope the embryos after they’re transferred, leaving them really no place to go. Neither coughing nor sneezing, nor picking up a pet nor a young child, nor laughing, nor arguing of one’s spouse is likely to dislodge the embryos after an embryo transfer.
It is not abnormal to see patients will look for any possible reason to blame themselves if a cycle does not work. We spend an awful lot of time reassuring patients that they did nothing to adversely affect the outcome of their cycle. No one needs a new source of stress during an IVF cycle.
Over the years we’ve come to understand just how important a nontraumatic transfer of the embryos is to the outcome of the IVF cycle. We’ve developed many techniques to assist us in replacing the embryos into the uterus while leaving it in as pristine a position as possible. We want to treat the uterine cavity like a national park leaving no trace that we were there other than the presence of the embryos.