Did I harm my embryos?

A patient sent me this email .

I had my FET yesterday, I have voiding  dysfunction and soon after the transfer I peed , I was really really uncomfortable but due to my problem I had difficulty peeing and I stressed my bladder and peed,soon after I was so worried that due to the pressure I applied on my bladder and lower abdomen I might have expelled my embryos 😢and after coming home I forgetfully sat on Indian toilet in squatting position to urinate.does this in any way effect or dislodge my embryos. I'm very remorseful of my irresponsible actions.

Most IVF patients are petrified that their actions will harm their  embryos which is why they try to be super careful after the transfer because they don't want to do anything which would reduce the chances of their embryos implanting.

Many doctors also advise strict bed rest and a very controlled diet, and this reinforces the impression that there is something they can do to improve their chances of success.

However the reality is that embryo implantation is in in utero biological process which we cannot control and does not depend either on diet or physical activity.

Your embryos are safe in your uterus, like a pearl in an oyster. Nothing you do can harm them , so please do not worry about this.

Please do not let your mind play games with you

Read more at http://www.drmalpani.com/knowledge-center/articles/care-after-embryo-transfer

We look forward to helping you to have a baby !

Finding answers to your IVF queries

IVF patients have lots of questions about IVF, and this is natural. After all, the success rate is not 100%, and you are investing a lot of time , money and energy in the process. How do you know whether you're on the right track ? Whether  you are taking the right treatment at the right clinic ? Are the doctors using the right protocol for you? There is a lot at stake, and it can be hard to find answers , because there are so many questions.

What makes it even harder is that because there are so many conflicting opinions, you don't know whom to trust. Should you depend on your family doctor? Or is he referring you to an IVF doctor because he is getting a kickback from the IVF clinic ? Should you depend on the first IVF doctor you go to? Or can you rely on the second , who gives you a completely different opinion? Are IVF websites reliable? Why does Dr. Google have such conflicting information? Who’s really telling you the truth?

In an ideal world, you doctor would have the time, patience and energy to answer all your questions, but doctors can be very difficult to access .

This is why we have created an intelligent solution for every IVF patient's queries ! We have designed Naima, a chatbot, powered by Artificial Intelligence, whom you can converse with . Naima will be happy to answer all your questions . Check her out at www.drmalpani.com to become a well-informed patient !

The Intelligent IVF Chatbot

IVF patients have lots of questions about IVF. What are the risks? What are the complications? What can I do to increase my chance of success? How do I find the right doctor?

Unfortunately , they don't know where to get these answers from. There are lots of myths and misconceptions which surround IVF, and these come from friends or family members who have done an IVF cycle - or even from someone whose relative did an IVF cycle ! A lot of this second-hand information is inaccurate , and creates a lot more confusion in the patient's mind , because she doesn't know whom to trust.  Is there any need to reast after IVF ? or is this just an old wife’s tale ?

Patients go to Dr. Google, who often confuses them even more , because so much of the information available online is contradictory and false !

They would love to be able to sit and chat with their doctor, but their doctor is too busy to answer their questions.

In order to bridge this gap between infertile patients and doctors, we have created the world's first infertility chatbot , Naima, as www.drmalpani.com.

Naima will patiently and happily answer all your questions, and because we have powered her with Artificial Intelligence, the quality of her answers will get better , the more questions patients ask her !

Try Naima out free at www.drmalpani.com and help us to improve her !

What every IVF patient needs to know

It always worries me when I see patients who have done IVF cycles in other clinics, but have no idea about what the doctor did; why did he did it; how many eggs they grew; and how many embryos were transferred. This bothers me , because we all know that the success rate of an IVF cycle is not 100%, but the more the patient knows about the IVF treatment, the better their chances of getting the right treatment . If they are armed with the right information, they will be able to select the right doctor; ask the right questions; choose the treatment option which is correct for them, rather than blindly accepting everything the doctor says. Also, doctors are much more willing to share information with patients who are proactive and well-informed.

This is why it's so important that you invest time and energy in finding out as much as you can about IVF before starting a cycle. And yes, this can be complicated because the medical terms can be foreign and intimidating.  To help you master some of the jargon, so you can ask your doctor intelligent questions, we've created the world's fist infertility chat bot, Naima.

Please check this out on www.drmalpani.com , and Naima will be happy to answer all your questions patiently and tirelessly, without getting bored or irritated !

Please send us feedback, so we can improve this chatbot !

Ignorance harms infertile couples !

A patient I saw today was crying bitterly because a doctor had told her she was suffering from "secondary " infertility.

She thought that secondary meant it was a more advanced and complicated form of infertility, which meant that her chances of getting pregnant would be very low.

I had to explain to her that secondary simply meant an infertile patient who had been pregnant in the past, and did not refer to the "stage" of the disease !

Doctors need to explain medical terms to patients - and patients need to do some research before jumping to the wrong conclusion !

Need help in making sense of medical jargon ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !

Our IVF success story

We would like to share our wonderful experience with Drs. Anjali and Aniruddha Malpani. We have just begun our journey of parenthood and are thankful to Dr. Malpani for it.

 We had been married for 3.5 yrs at the time we met Dr. Malpani. We live in Delhi and had already consulted a few IVF specialists and undergone treatment in Delhi as per their advice, but we didn't get any success with the treatment. We were very disappointed as it is a physically and mentally exhausting process. We were not sure about what to do next and whether to continue with the same doctor.

We got to know about Dr. Malpani through some acquaintances and met him with our reports and asked for his opinion. He was very calm, patient and went through all the reports carefully. He was very encouraging and positive in his replies. He prefers direct communication with the patient and helps answer all queries.

 Afterwards, we emailed him several times and he always promptly replied with his recommended line of treatment. We found him to be very experienced and honest in his approach to treatment options. He gave us all possible options and helped us choose the best one.

All the scans and procedures are done by Dr. Malpani. The procedure was done by Dr Anjali Malpani, who is very good with it. She is very patient and understanding. She personally met us after the procedure and explained the instructions and medications that I needed to take.

 After anxiously waiting for two weeks, we were extremely happy to get a positive report. Things have been smooth since then and I am now in my first trimester.

 We keep updating Dr. Malpani about the progress through emails as we still have a lot of questions and he replies patiently every time. :) We trust him and prefer to take his guidance regarding the treatment or medication.

I would also like to mention Dr. Sai, the embryologist who works with Dr. Malpani, is also excellent at what he does. Embryologists play an important role in IVF treatment. All pictures of embryos were shared with us along with the grades, which had not happened in IVF done in Delhi. The process is very transparent with Dr. Malpani.

Also a special mention of the staff and nurses who are very helpful, kind and competent.

 We had a very positive experience with Drs. Anjali and Aniruddha Malpani and would definitely recommend them to people looking for infertility treatment.

How can we make IVF more affordable

1.       We need to make IVF more affordable , because there are millions of Indian infertile couples who require IVF, but can't pay for it , because it's become so expensive . Health insurers should cover for IVF treatment, because infertility is the commonest medical problem which affects young adults in the prime of their life. The return on investment for this treatment is enormous, because IVF babies become highly productive citizens in the future , since their parents lavish so much love and care on them. However, until large corporate ( such as TCS and Infosys) which employ thousands of young graduates apply pressure on insurers, this is not going to happen. Hopefully, the war for talent will pressurize their HR departments to force insurers to do so – just like Google and Facebook have done in the USA. Also, the government should to offer IVF treatment in government hospitals,  so that poor patients also have access to this.

2.      The Holy Grail for IVF specialists is to improve success rates, so that they become 100 %. We still have a long way to go , but basic and clinical research in the areas of vitrification and genetic technology will help us to get there. The advances will help us to transfer the best embryos, which have the best chances of implanting and becoming a baby.

3.      Finally, we need to prescribe Information Therapy for patients, so that have  realistic expectations of what IVF technology can do for them. Sadly, there are too many poor quality IVF clinics with dismal pregnancy rates , who end up taking patients for a ride, and harming everyone in the IVF field.

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