The many hats I wear

For most of my patients, I am just their IVF specialist.

However, I do wear lots of other hats as well - and if you are interested in what I do, you can follow my LinkedIn posts at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniruddhamalpani/recent-activity/posts/, where I try to share what I am learning with the rest of the world !

Reducing IVF anxiety

Lots of patients are very scared of doing IVF. This is partly because they've heard lots of horror stories about how IVF babies are abnormal, or that the hormones will make them fat, or that if they grow too many eggs, they will either get menopausal sooner, or start getting ovarian cancer as they grow older. And, they've heard lots of horror stories from some of their friends, who've done IVF, about how painful the injections can be, or how many mood swings it causes, or the fact that you need bed rest or that there are lots of complications, or that the risk of miscarriage is higher after IVF.

There are lots of myths and misconceptions, and these obviously add to the patient's anxiety, because of the fear of the unknown, that you end up spending so much time, money and energy, and even after doing all that, not only may you not end up getting a baby, you may actually be worse off because of all the side effects you've put yourself through.

Somehow a lot of IVF seems very artificial and unnatural today, because patients think that you're doing stuff in the laboratory, you're manipulating things, you're doing stuff, which nature wasn't designed to do, as a result of which there are likely to be problems. They often don't trust doctors, and we tell them there won't be problems because most doctors will always try to reassure patients and their concern is that we're not aware of some of these long term side effects, or that we're trying to sell our treatment just because it's more profitable for us.

I think the only way of getting over all this anxiety and fear of unknown, is what I call information therapy. Patients need to read up about IVF from reliable websites so they understand what the truth is, and they can separate the myths, which are so prevalent and they don't get carried away by old wives tales, because otherwise they will end up depriving themselves of the best chance of getting pregnant, and regret this once they get older, and time doesn't come back.

You will find the free resources , which include an e-learning course at www.ivfindia.com very helpful !

You can download our IVF Comic Book free at www.slideshare.net/malpani/ivf-comic-book

Need more information about IVF Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

हिन्दी में आईवीएफ जानकारी

भारत में स्मार्ट फोन सस्ता हो गए हैं, और 4 जी व्यापक और सस्ती हो गई है। आधे से अधिक भारतीय आबादी अब ऑनलाइन है, और जब उनमें से ज्यादातर मनोरंजन के लिए स्मार्टफोन का उपयोग, वे भी जानकारी के लिए शिकार के लिए उपयोग शुरू कर दिया है। जबकि आम कारण सस्ते दामों पर और सौदों के लिए देखने के लिए है, उनमें से बहुत कुछ इंटरनेट का उपयोग कर रहे चिकित्सा समस्याओं के बारे में जानकारी खोजने के लिए। 

बांझपन आम चिकित्सा समस्या है जो 25 और 45 की उम्र के बीच लोग बुरा असर है - और इस समूह जो ऑनलाइन अपने समय के सबसे खर्च कर रहा है अब है। वे सख्त बांझपन और आईवीएफ के बारे में जानकारी के लिए देख रहे हैं। 

अच्छी खबर यह है कि हम कम से समझने के लिए हमारी वेबसाइट पर विभिन्न भारतीय क्षेत्रीय भाषाओं में, विश्वसनीय जानकारी आसान के 500 से अधिक पृष्ठों प्रदान करना है www.drmalpani.com , गूगल ट्रांसलेट का शुक्रिया। जबकि अनुवाद की गुणवत्ता अभी भी एक बहुत होना बाकी है, इस बांझ दंपतियों के लिए खुद को हिंदी में सूचना थेरेपी के साथ सशक्त बनाने शुरू करने के लिए के लिए एक महान शुरुआती बिंदु है, तो वे खुद के लिए सबसे अच्छा आईवीएफ क्लिनिक पा सकते हैं!

IVF information in Hindi

Smart phones in India have become cheaper, and 4G has become pervasive and affordable. More than half the Indian population is now online, and while most of them use the smartphone for entertainment, they have also started using it for hunting for information. While the commonest reason is to look for bargains and deals, lot of them are using the internet to find information about medical problems.

Infertility is the commonest medical problem which afflicts people between the ages of 25 and 45 - and this is the group which is spending most of its time online now. They are desperately looking for information on infertility and IVF .

The good news is that we provide over 500 pages of easy to understand, reliable information in various Indian regional languages on our website at www.drmalpani.com,  thanks to Google translate. While the quality of the translation still  leaves a lot to be desired, this is a great starting point for infertile couples to start empowering themselves with Information Therapy in Hindi, so they can find the best IVF clinic for themselves !

Why do IVF doctors abandon their patients?

Most IVF patients are mature enough to realize that the success rate in an IVF cycle is never going to be a 100%. No matter how perfect your embryos are; how good your doctor is; and how easy the transfer is , we still have no control over implantation, and cannot predict which embryos will become  a babies.  Patients come to terms with the risk of failure, because they know that doctors are not gods. 
However, they find that while the doctor can be extremely persuasive and charming when they go for their first consultation  ( because they are in sell mode and want the patient to sign up for the IVF treatment), when their IVF treatment fails, they often feel abandoned . They are desperately seeking answers, but they find no one is willing to provide them. 

When they reach out to the clinic, often the doctor's simply not available . When they try to meet him, they find  it's very difficult to get an appointment . Even when they finally get a chance to talk to him, they find he's very evasive, and refuses to provide any clear answers as to why the IVF cycle failed.  Even though patients understand that we can't always answer all their questions, they want to hear the truth from the doctor's mouth. The trouble is that doctors start equivocating, and come up with all kinds of flimsy answers which patients know are not truthful. 

The doctor who was very optimistic and hopeful at the time of the embryo transfer because he told you that they had created perfect top quality embryos for you, starts singing  a completely different tune when your cycle fails . He now claims that the reason for your failure is that " Your embryos weren't very good because your eggs weren't very good" and "Perhaps we should consider doing donor egg IVF for you, or surrogacy in your next cycle". Sadly, you don't have any photos of your embryos, and this advice comes as a bolt out of the blue . Patients are understandably upset, because the doctor is not being consistent and congruent.

This is why they start losing confidence in the doctor , and feel that they've been cheated .
When an IVF cycle fails, a good doctor realises you are hurting, and will proactively reach out to support you. He will invite you back , so you can analyse the cycle together, and  create a  plan of action for the future, based on what went right, and what needs to be tweaked.

Can't understand what your doctor is saying ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion and I will be happy to help you !