Over 500 Pregnancies in 13 Years

“Dr. Maya Bledsoe, Austin Regional Clinic’s only Endocrinologist, celebrates her success in helping couples realize their dreams of having a family. In the 13 years she has been with ARC, she has been instrumental in the success of over 500 pregnancies.

“Endocrinology encompasses a large area of medicine – pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, reproductive/gonadal, lipid metabolism, bone metabolism, growth, and diabetes. Many Endocrinologists have subspecialized and limit their practice population. Dr. Bledsoe specializes is pituitary, thyroid, adrenal and reproductive medicine.

“Dr. Bledsoe especially enjoys her subspecialty in reproductive medicine, saying, “My favorite gift from a patient is a picture of their baby. It is so much fun to see how they change as they grow.

“The essentials in evaluating a couple with difficulty achieving pregnancy are really pretty simple – a thermometer to do basal temperatures, a lab that can check hormone levels – in both the male and female, and a lab that can check sperm counts. ‘In the space of a month, the vast majority of couples can at least know WHY they have not conceived after a year of trying,’ says Dr. Bledsoe.

“ARC offers many technologies to help with pregnancy induction – U/s, clomid use, gonadotropin use, and intrauterine insemination to name just a few. Dr. Bledsoe explains that treatment options can be ‘as easy as supplementing a hormone that is low or reducing one that is high.’ Clomid is a pill that improves fertility in women and in men. Human Menopausal.

“Gonadotropins are injections that are sometimes used. Insemination is sometimes required. This is a fairly simple office procedure.

“Often, ultrasounds are used to help understand what is happening inside a woman’s body. Ultrasounds can help diagnose an ovary that is not working well or a uterus that is not producing lining as well as it should. They can also help locate pregnancies that do not implant in the uterus.

Male Infertility

While much of the focus tends to be on women, male infertility has become more easily diagnosed. ‘When I first started in this field almost 20 years ago, I could find a reason for low sperm counts in male patients only about 20 percent of the time; it is now about 20 percent of the time that I cannot find a reason’ says Dr. Bledsoe. ‘Most of the research in the past concentrated on women, and we have been fairly successful for many years in diagnosing and treating women. The men are finally catching up, but we still have a long way to go to understand male infertility. The most common treatment of male infertility is still IVF, a procedure done to women, not to men.’”

Source: September 2005 Covenant Connection