New Clinical Study: NuvaRing
Posted on February 21, 2005 by Inception Fertility
From time to time, PFC conducts clinical research aimed at improving IVF outcomes. Our newest clinical study involves the use of a new contraceptive device for ovum donors. Currently, we prescribe birth control pills to our ovum donors in the month preceding their IVF stimulation. We do this for several reasons. First, we want to make sure the donor cannot get pregnant in the month prior to IVF at the time she needs to start Lupron. Also, hormonal contraceptives will usually prevent ovulation so that when the donor starts Lupron, there is less of a chance of inducing a cyst from the ovulation follicle. We also use birth control pills to get the donor's and the recipient's cycles in sync. Donors must remember to take one pill every day for anywhere from 14 to 35 days (usually 21 days). A new contraceptive device manufactured by Organon is called NuvaRing. It is already FDA approved for contraception but to our knowledge, has not yet been used in ovum donors prior to IVF. This is a soft silastic ring containing estrogen and progesterone analogs. The patient places the ring in the vagina and removes it after 21 days. The potential advantage is that the donors will not have to remember to take a pill every day and therefore, help avoid any errors in a cycle. We will be assessing by questionnaire whether or not the donor found the ring to be easy to use and whether or not they would consider using this method for future contraception. Because this is a randomized clinical trial, 15 donors will be randomly assigned to use the ring and 15 will be on our usual birth control pills. Organon will provide the pills or rings free of charge for donors in the study. For more information on NuvaRing and an interactive example of the ring's flexibility go to [www.nuvaring.com](http://www.nuvaring.com/) Categories
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