Preliminary experience in the use of fertility charting in a cohort of infertility patients at a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Abstract

Objective: to study the results in patients undergoing infertility treatment with a focus on restorative medicine (NaProTechnology) at a department of obstetrics and gynecology.

Methodology: retrospective cohort study conducted by the gynecology and obstetrics department at Universidad de los Andes (Santiago, Chile) in infertility patients from a suburban area of Santiago de Chile, who received treatment between 2006 and 2014. All couples received instructions on how to recognize their fertility period according to a local teaching model based on the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. They also received medical treatment to induce ovulation and/or widen their fertile period, or surgical treatment. The main outcome was the number of pregnancies.

Results: 131 patients received instructions. The mean age was 33.6 years. Seventyeight patients (59.5%) consulted due to primary infertility; 53 (40.5%) due to secondary infertility. The duration of group infertility was 4.1 years. The mean use of the method was 12.6 months (median, 9 months). The infertility causes identified included anovulation (50.4%), tubo-peritoneal factors (18.3%), endometriosis (14.5%), uterine factors (9.2%), cervical factors (8.4%) and masculine factors (19.1%). There were 33 pregnancies (25.2 global). The crude proportion of pregnancies at 24 months was 22.9% and the proportion adjusted by the life table at 24 months was 40 per 100 couples.

Conclusions: the focus on restorative medicine is effective to achieve pregnancy but it requires a long-term longitudinal treatment. Early discontinuation of fertility charting affects the efficacy of this focus. More research is warranted to optimize medical treatment.