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 !