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Akinrolayo Faith։ Inside The IVF Laboratory – Day 3
Photo: DepositPhotos
Aug 24, 2026, 07:05

Akinrolayo Faith։ Inside The IVF Laboratory – Day 3

Akinrolayo Faith, Junior Embryologist at Present Help Fertility Clinic, shared on LinkedIn:

“Inside The IVF Laboratory – Day 3

Day 3: When Cell Number Isn’t the Whole Story

By Day 3, the embryo has usually progressed to around 6–8 cells.

But here’s the question an embryologist should ask:

Do more cells automatically mean a better embryo?

Not necessarily.

At the cleavage stage, we look beyond cell number:

  • Cell number – Is development appropriate for the day?
  • Symmetry – Are blastomeres reasonably similar in size?
  • Fragmentation – How much cytoplasmic fragmentation is present?
  • Multinucleation – Is more than one nucleus visible within a blastomere?
  • Developmental pattern – Is the embryo progressing appropriately?

From the embryology bench

With experience, one of the easiest mistakes to make is grading the appearance rather than interpreting the developmental story.

A Day 3 embryo is a snapshot of a continuously changing biological process.

That is why standardized assessment matters.

Research has shown that cleavage-stage morphology can provide information about developmental potential, but no single morphological feature can reliably predict implantation or live birth on its own.”

Akinrolayo Faith։ Inside The IVF Laboratory – Day 3

You can also read the 1st and the 2nd parts of this article on Fertility News.

Akinrolayo Faith Fertility Fertility News IVF IVF laboratory OBGYN reproductive health Reproductive Medicine Women’s Health
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