Atrium Health Navicent Women's Care Fertility & Reproductive Medicine

IUI

An IUI -- intrauterine insemination -- is performed by threading a very thin flexible catheter through the cervix and injecting washed sperm directly into the uterus. The whole process doesn't take very long "” it usually only requires the insertion of a speculum and then the catheter, a process that maybe takes a couple of minutes (60-90 seconds to introduce the catheter, then sperm injection, and another 60 seconds or so to remove the catheter "” going slowly helps reduce discomfort. Sometimes when the cervix is hard to reach a tenaculum is used to hold the cervix.