What went wrong ? Why did the IVF cycle fail ?
When an IVF cycle fails , the first question the patient asks the doctor is : What went wrong ?
This can be quite an irritating question for the doctor because the reality is that even in a perfect IVF cycle , where everything goes right , the success rate will be less than 50 percent. However, when the patient chooses to phrase the question in this particular manner, it suggests he is implying that the doctor was incompetent ; or negligent ; or did something incorrectly ; or wasn't proficient enough. This upsets the doctor and sometimes doctors start getting defensive. Rather than giving the honest answer that we do...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - March 14, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Natural killer cell Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health patient Question Infertility Physician Source Type: blogs
Does HLA sharing cause pregnancy losses ?
I recently heard from one of my friend who is going through
IVF to have her child. In the course of her treatment , she went through
two pregnancy losses, one at 12 weeks and one at 5 weeks. As usual, a
battery of tests were performed on her by her IVF specialist to find out
where the fault lay- why did the miscarriage happen ? Of the several
tests performed on her, two tests came back positive. She was told her
NK cells in uterus are elevated ; and that her HLA haplotype (what the
heck is that?) was very similar to her husband's. On seeing her results,
her doctor told her that it was a waste of time and energy in ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - March 2, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Natural killer cell In vitro fertilisation Uterus Miscarriage ivf Pregnancy Manju Infant Source Type: blogs
IVF failure - what to do when your IVF cycle fails
This is a guest post from one of our expert patients !
If your path to the discovery of the fact that you are infertile has been anything like mine, then you would have gone through a roller coaster of emotions.... namely shock, anger, acceptance and finally you would have made a decision to act. Well at least in today's times there is a possibility to "act", but wait a sec, there is still no guarantee of a positive outcome.
If you know anything about statistics, you can use a decision tree to map out the IVF process; if you are a statistics freak you can even populate it with probability scores to help you decide the b...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - March 1, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health United States In vitro fertilisation ivf patient Roller coaster Statistics Infertility Source Type: blogs
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This is a guest post by a patient I admire a lot !
Dear Dr. Malpani,
Two days ago when I came back to your clinic you asked me to write about my experience with Julia.Today I took the time and I started to write my history you can use parts of the letter or the full letter to publish at your newsletter and share with other patients.
Three failed IVF cycles in Europe one failed cycle in India and one cornual ectopic pregnancy I am back at the clinic of Dr. Malpani to go through my last IVF cycle. This time I will be pregnant and I will carry the baby to term without complications.
After three failed IVF treatments in Euro...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 28, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Clinic United States In vitro fertilisation India Malpani ivf Pregnancy ectopic pregnancy Source Type: blogs
My IVF journey - a first hand account from a patient
This is a guest post . The writer was inspired to pen this after reading Manju's blog at www.myselfishgenes.blogspot.com. She sent this to Manju, and I asked for her permission to reproduce this.
I hope more patients will start documenting their experiences. Not only is this helpful for them ( because it allows them to vent ), it also provides them with a platform to share their hard-earned learning , so they can help other patients, so they do not repeat their mistakes !
It articulates very clearly what infertile patients go through . I do wish all IVF doctors would read it too, so they would be a little more compassion...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 26, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Desperate Housewives Reproductive Health Pregnancy Manju Artificial insemination Infertility Source Type: blogs
Why did my embryos not implant ?
When an IVF cycle fails , the first question patients ask is – Why didn’t my embryos implant ? The commonest answer they receive is – “ Implantation failure “. Many patients are satisfied with this, without realizing that this is just a wastepaper basket diagnosis, where the doctor is using jargon to cloak his ignorance. After all, what does this mean ? Does this mean that the embryos arrested in utero and did not continue to grow ? Or that the blastocyst failed to hatch from the zona ? or that the endometrium did not produce the right chemical signals to allow the embryo to attach itself ? or that the uter...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 19, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Natural killer cell In vitro fertilisation Uterus patient Embryo Source Type: blogs
IVF failure stories
Most IVF websites are full of IVF success stories . They highlight patients who did IVF treatment , and are now happily pregnant ! Such stories do serve a useful purpose – they give hope to infertile couples that it's possible for them to have a happy ending as well ! These stories carry a lot of weight, because they are first person accounts from some who's “ been there, done that “. If patients can get firsthand information from another patient ( who knows how to reduce the pain of the injections; and how terrible the two week wait is ) , they are able to prepare themselves much better for their own treatment...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 18, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Clinic Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health ivf patient Infertility Failure Source Type: blogs
Infertility is ...
1) the love we carry for our unborn child2) the happiness we feel when we see small children3) the respect we develop towards all forms of life4) the love we feel towards our understanding, supportive and selfless partner5) the surprise - when we hear how our friends get pregnant by accident!6) the wonder - when we see the growing belly of a pregnant woman!7) the affection we...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 14, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Shopping Miscarriage endometriosis Pregnancy Infertility ovulation Source Type: blogs
IVF and Indian society
India is a male-dominated, child (male child!)-obsessed society. When a couple faces infertility problem, it is the women are the ones who are blamed for their inability to get pregnant , and not the men. There are men who are reluctant to undergo infertility testing. There are mother-in-laws who adamantly deny the fact that their son could be infertile. The position of infertile women in Indian society is highly pitiable. They are generally viewed as being cursed as they are missing out on the ultimate blessing – motherhood ! Indian society is used to seeing women as baby-making machines. People believe that womanhood i...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 13, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation India Family Reproductive Health ivf Clinics and Services Infertility Source Type: blogs
Why good IVF doctors do only IVF ( and nothing else)
IVF is a highly specialized branch of OB/GYN . IVF specialists all over the world stick to their core competence of providing IVF treatment , because it takes them many years of training and expertise in order to specialize in this particular field . They need to continue honing their skills , and the best way to do this is to do just one thing , and do it extremely well. While this is true in the Western world, it’s amazing that in India most clinics doing IVF are run by general gynecologists , who will continue to do general OB and GYN, along with doing IVF. For most of these doctors, IVF seems to be a part time servic...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 6, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Gynaecology Health In vitro fertilisation India Reproductive Health patient Infertility Physician Source Type: blogs
Your IVF cycle failed. What next ?
Patients are understandably disappointed and disheartened when an IVF cycle fails. Everyone starts an IVF cycle with the hope that it's going to be their first and their last – that they’ll get lucky and that it'll work for them. When it doesn't , they are now back to square one and have to decide what to do next. So they turn to their doctor and ask - Doctor , what do we do next ? What went wrong ? What can we change the next time ?
This is a difficult question for the doctor to answer because in all honesty there are major limitations in our ability to predict the outcome of any IVF cycle. While we can gener...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 5, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Natural killer cell In vitro fertilisation ivf patient Pregnancy Embryo Menstrual cycle Infertility Source Type: blogs
The three kinds of doctors
There are three kinds of doctors. The doctors who know that they know are the doctor’s doctors – the world authorities , who do the research and to whom other doctors will refer their complex patients when they are perplexed. However, these are few and far between – often because there is a lot in medicine which we do not really know or understand !The wise doctors are the mature physicians who know that they do not know. They understand the limits of modern medicine and do not hesitate to share these with their patients. They do not pretend to know more than what is known – and are quite comfortable acknowledging ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 4, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Organizations Medicine Health In vitro fertilisation patient Infertility Medical Specialties Physician Source Type: blogs
The importance of the human touch in clinical medicine
One of the most ingredients in healthcare is the personal relationship between the doctor and the patient. Unfortunately , we sometimes tend to undervalue the importance of this; and it's only when we are actually sick ourselves and need a doctor do we understand the value of having an actual human being who can hold our hand and provide comfort .Unfortunately , the bureaucrats who assign the dollars which make the health system run, underestimate its healing value, because they are sitting ensconced in their ivory towers . Because this is an intangible, which cannot be captured in numbers or tracked, they fail to understa...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 2, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Clinic Health In vitro fertilisation Health care patient Embryo transfer Physician Doctor-patient relationship Source Type: blogs
Does IVF cause premature menopause ?
Many women worry that going through IVF will deplete their ovarian reserve , as a result of which they will run out of eggs , reduce their long-term fertility, and reach the menopause earlier. Logically, this makes sense ! We all know that women are born with a certain number of eggs ; and that their ovaries do not produce any new eggs after birth. If the doctor stimulates the ovaries to grow lots of eggs during the IVF treatment by giving hormonal injections, won’t this mean that there’ll be fewer eggs left in the ovaries after the IVF treatment – especially if they are doing many IVF cycles ? When going throu...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 31, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation ivf Follicle-stimulating hormone FSH Menstrual cycle Infertility Menopause Source Type: blogs
Will my embryo fall out after the embryo transfer ?
A fear which is wide-spread among IVF patients is – will my embryo fall out if I stand up or walk around after the embryo transfer ? This is quite a reasonable worry – after all, if the embryos are transferred through the uterus through the cervix, then why can’t they come out through the same route? However, if you understand the anatomy of the uterus , these doubts will vanish and you will fell much more confident and comfortable during your 2ww.
Women imagine that when the doctor puts the embryos inside the uterus, they are deposited inside a space within the uterus in which the microscopic embryos can roll...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 29, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Uterus Sexual intercourse uterine cavity Pregnancy Embryo transfer Source Type: blogs
