Do patients need to remain in bed following embryo transfer? The Birmingham experience of 103 in-vitro fertilization cycles with no bed rest following embryo transfer.

Since the early days of human in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, rest in bed for hours immediately following the transfer has been advocated and widely practised. However, there is no scientific validation for this practice which is both time-consuming for the patient and increases space occupancy in the hospital or clinic. We report here on a study of 103 in-vitro fertilization cycles with no bed rest in hospital following the embryo transfer. The mean number of embryos transferred was 2.7 (range 1-3) and the clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer procedure was 40%. These results suggest that bed rest is not necessary following embryo transfer.