The Day of Insemination

Registration:  Prior to arriving at the laboratory, the male partner must register as a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics patient.  If you are unsure if your partner is a registered patient, please stop by the Registration Desk in the main lobby before you report to the laboratory.  Patients must update their registration annually. 

Directions to the laboratory: Park in Ramp IV. Take the skywalk to Pomerantz Family Pavilion, Level Two. Follow the signs for Pomerantz Family Pavilion passing the Skywalk Corner Café to Elevator L. Take elevator L to Level 4. Take a right upon exiting the elevator. You will see the sign for Center for Advanced Reproductive Care, Room 40015. Check in with the secretary at the window or use the phone to the left of the window to notify staff you are there for your appointment.

Specimen collection and delivery: The laboratory has two private rooms available for specimen collection. This is the preferred method to ensure receipt of the sample within a timely manner. You will be asked to sign the laboratory worksheet for chain of custody documentation. A pager will then be assigned and you will be paged to return to the lab when the sample is ready for pick up. The time required to process an inseminant ranges from one and one-half hours, to two hours. The steps required for semen processing are strictly timed, therefore returning any earlier than the given time will not be beneficial.

If you are unfamiliar with University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, an information flyer is available at the laboratory.  This flyer contains a list of places to eat and other points of interest.

Inseminant receipt:  You will be asked to pick up the inseminant from the laboratory and transport it to the clinic.  The laboratory will request your signature prior to releasing the inseminant from the laboratory.  The signature is required for chain of custody documentation.  The inseminant should be kept upright, warm and out of the light during transportation to the clinic. 

Directions from the laboratory to the Women's Health clinic: Take Elevator L to Level 3. Go down the hallway to Elevator M. The entrance to the Women’s Health Clinic is to the right of elevator M. If you have a weekend insemination, please sign the check-in form at the desk. Trials performed in our laboratory show that extended incubation at body temperature (up to three hours) does not decrease sperm viability or motility. Therefore, a delay between the time of inseminant retrieval from the laboratory and the actual insemination will not adversely affect the inseminant quality.

Intrauterine Insemination

The intrauterine insemination will be performed by a nurse with special training.  The steps are as follows:

1. A speculum is placed in the woman's vagina.
2. The cervix is cleansed with sterile saline solution.
3. A fine plastic tube is inserted through the cervix into the uterus.
4. The sperm are slowly transferred through the tube into the uterus.
5. The patient will rest for 15 minutes after the insemination.

Frequency and Duration of Intrauterine Insemination

In most cases only one insemination will be done in a given cycle.  Pregnancy is most likely to occur in the first three to four insemination cycles.  Therefore, after three well-timed inseminations, it is advisable to schedule an appointment to review your case with your doctor to evaluate the need for further diagnostic testing and to consider treatment alternatives.

Risks, Complications

A few individuals may experience uterine cramping during or following intrauterine insemination with washed sperm.  Risk of infection is small.  The following should be reported to your physician:

• Fever
• Abnormal bleeding
• Cramping
• Abnormal discharge
• Pain

Follow-Up

We will ask your help in compiling accurate treatment outcome statistics for our program.  Please notify Reproductive Endocrinology of the outcome of your treatment cycle (i.e. pregnancy or onset of a menstrual period following insemination).  In the event of pregnancy, an ultrasound at seven weeks gestation will be performed to assure the pregnancy is well established.  Patients at risk for a tubal (ectopic) pregnancy will need earlier monitoring.  In addition, information about your delivery will be requested for our records.