Sperm motility 8% consultant not worried?!

[Dancingthroughthefire]

Sorry, this is my second thread on this.

I have to get the full report on the sa tomorrow.
However initially speaking with the consultant this afternoon he said that the count and morphology were normal but motility was 8%.

He said that this was not the reason we are struggling to conceive and that current thinking now states that as long as some sperm are mobile then there isn't a problem.

However all my research from dr google suggests otherwise. And some people are actually told they need Ivf to conceive with a motility not as low as my dh's!

The lab have asked for the test to be repeated. I will say that it took me an hour and a quarter to deliver the test which may not have helped. Leaflet stated within an hour but I got stuck in traffic and then couldn't park so was delayed.

Surely with a result that low the consultant should have been a bit more concerned though?!

My husband had low motility when tested, were about to start IVF when got pregnant. He also got a girl pregnant at uni (!) and I have had a second pregnancy (miscarried). He did a second test and motility was much improved. I think (personally - no medical expert) that it might change due to lifestyle factors - making sure he cuts out alcohol being the most important. Keep trying and communicating with your consultant.

The World Health Organization has a value of 50% and this must be measured within 60 minutes of collection. WHO also has a parameter of vitality, with a lower reference limit of 60% live spermatozoa.[7] A man can have a total number of sperm far over the limit of 20 million sperm cells per milliliter, but still have bad quality because too few of them are motile. However, if the sperm count is very high, then a low motility (for example, less than 60%) might not matter, because the fraction might still be more than 8 million per millilitre. The other way around, a man can have a sperm count far less than 20 million sperm cells per millilitre and still have good motility, if more than 60% of those observed sperm cells show good forward movement.

A more specified measure is motility grade, where the motility of sperm are divided into four different grades:[11]

Grade a: Sperm with progressive motility. These are the strongest and swim fast in a straight line. Sometimes it is also denoted motility IV.
Grade b: (non-linear motility): These also move forward but tend to travel in a curved or crooked motion. Sometimes also denoted motility III.
Grade c: These have non-progressive motility because they do not move forward despite the fact that they move their tails. Sometimes also denoted motility II.
Grade d: These are immotile and fail to move at all. Sometimes also denoted motility I.

Thank you.
He has stopped drinking but only two months ago and I understand it takes three months for any lifestyle changes to make a difference. He's also lost weight and improved his diet. We have a ds who we conceived first cycle, he is 3 now. I'm starting to think he may have been a miracle!

I still can't believe how blasé the consultant was. 8% seems very low, even allowing for the extra journey time. I don't know how quickly they were tested though. I guess even another ten minutes would have made it an hour and a half from collection time.