IVF treatment is emotionally and physically stressful, financially demanding, and requires the patient to become “high information” in a very technical sub specialty of medicine. This reality is reflected in a common saying in the “TTC” (trying to conceive) community; “Infertility patients earn an honorary degree in reproduction”. Meaning IVF patients need to learn so much during the course of their treatment that they could practically earn a degree. IVF clinics often operate on the narrowest of margins, which means losing even one patient over poor customer service is one too many. Despite the stumbling blocks, IVF patient satisfaction can be increased!
The paradigm of “shared decision making” – a patient-centered, individualized approach to the informed consent process that involves discussion of the benefits and risks of available treatment options in the context of a patient’s values and priorities, is of paramount importance in the field of IVF, where the financial burdens often fall on the patients and the stakes are so high. In my experience, I have seen patients re-mortgage their house, prospective grandparents cash out retirement accounts, and infertility patients move jobs, states, or even countries to obtain IVF coverage!
The manner in which fertility doctors communicate with patients affects their confidence in the physician and in the final IVF treatment decisions made. Many studies have shown that healthcare consumers crave a retail-like patient experience, they are seeking “self-service” options, automated communication options, more payment options, a so-called ‘digital front door’, and mobile app capabilities that provide instant access to medical records and test results. Failure to deliver on these capabilities can push patients to change REIs, even when the clinical aspect of their infertility care is satisfactory. It is abundantly clear, IVF patients lose confidence in IVF clinics that do not use a digital product, particularly a mobile app, to manage the IVF consumer experience.
The ART Compass (ARTC) patient IVF app links all of the IVF cycles together on a single dashboard, and includes intake forms to collect demographic and medical histories, patient satisfaction surveys, and other types of surveys to promote patient education and shared decision making with REI physicians. Critically for IVF practices that implement ARTC, this shifts the focus onto the patient and promotes a culture of IVF service excellence.
We launched our patient survey tools just 6 months ago to fulfill the regulatory requirements of the IVF lab, but already our results are yielding interesting and actionable results for IVF clinics. Thus far, most survey respondents (> 78%) said that certain aspects of IVF treatment information provision should be improved. 83% of users stated that the quality of communication and the provision of treatment support were critically important in the context of shared decision making. We also identified negative experiences, which affected women’s perceptions of the whole IVF process; such as, being given unrealistic expectations of treatment success, feelings of vulnerability to the pressures of media and society, and a sense of being ‘unprepared’ for the major steps of IVF ‘decision-making’ process were reported. Most importantly, “insufficient information” or information that appeared to be ‘generic’ and not specific to the individual couple were identified most often from the patient satisfaction surveys completed. Certainly, transforming the IVF patient experience with a cutting-edge digital infertility software like ARTC aligns IVF practices with consumer needs and can boost revenue by attracting and retaining new patients, streamlining operations, and supporting clinical care.
IVF Labs that implement ART Compass for IVF data management report higher patient satisfaction and loyalty, that staff can see how their role impacts patient experience, IVF patients feel better informed for decision-making, and that it enables continuous improvement in their healthcare organization.
Cervical mucus and fertility play a fundamental role in the TTC process by nourishing and protecting sperm as it makes the long, arduous journey through the female reproductive tract to meet the egg. So, as you become more familiar with your cervical mucus, you will be able to better time having sex in order to conceive.
In simple terms, cervical mucus is a fluid secreted by the cervix, the production of which is stimulated by the hormone estrogen. Throughout your menstrual cycle, the amount and quality of cervical mucus that is produced will fluctuate, and by observing these changes you can begin to predict the most fertile days in your cycle. That being said, “should” be able to detect cervical mucus changes however, according to the Mayo Clinic, 23 out of 100 women practicing the cervical mucus method to prevent pregnancy in the first year of use, will actually get pregnant. What that says to me is that a lot of women have trouble detecting this exact physiological change- so if you don’t detect it, don’t worry!
As you approach ovulation, estrogen levels begin to surge, which causes the cervix to secrete more cervical mucus that is of a so-called “fertile quality”. This fertile-quality cervical mucus, also known as egg white cervical mucus (EWCM), is clear and stretchy, similar to the consistency of egg whites, and is the perfect protective medium for sperm in terms of texture and pH.
Having enough egg white cervical mucus during your fertile window will actually improve your chances of conceiving. And, by noticing when your body is producing egg white cervical mucus, you will be able to identify your most fertile days.
Cervical mucus plays and Fertility an important role in selecting motile, mostly morphologically normal sperm for fertilization. Insufficient production of fertile-quality cervical mucus or the presence of hostile cervical mucus may result from a variety of factors including diet, stress, hormonal issues, or even from taking prescription medications like Clomid.
The in vitro sperm–mucus penetration test (SMPT) is a sperm function test which measures the ability of sperm in the semen to swim up into a column of cervical mucus or substitute.
Normally, this cervical mucus is thick and impenetrable to sperm until just before release of an egg (ovulation). Then, just before ovulation, the mucus becomes clear and elastic (because the level of the hormone estrogen increases). As a result, sperm can move through the mucus into the uterus to the fallopian tubes, where fertilization can take place.
Abnormal mucus may do the following:
-Not change at ovulation (usually because of an infection), making pregnancy unlikely
-Allow bacteria in the vagina, usually those that cause infection in the cervix (cervicitis), to enter the uterus, sometimes resulting in the destruction of sperm
-Contain antibodies to sperm, which kill sperm before they can reach the egg (a rare problem)
However, problems with cervical mucus rarely impair fertility significantly, except in women who have chronic cervicitis or a cervix that has been narrowed (called cervical stenosis) by treatment for a precancerous abnormality of the cervix (cervical dysplasia).
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Chances are you know someone Trying to Conceive (TTC), you know someone who is struggling with infertility. More than seven million people of childbearing age in the United States experience infertility.
What most people don’t understand about infertility is that its NOT that motherhood is out of reach, it’s that it’s JUST barely out of reach.
It’s not that motherhood didn’t happen, it’s that it almost did and, in fact, still could.
The difference between the grief of infertility and other reasons for mourning is in that promise of “just,” in “almost,” in “still could.” This does not make it more or less livable than other forms of grief, but it goes a long way toward explaining why the journey is so hard to explain, or understand.
Why might a woman put herself under the knife ten, twelve, twenty times to get pregnant, why might she spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the effort???
We walk this path because motherhood is not unthinking, automatic, and instinctual, instead it is a thing that is both worked at and worked for. So how can you support the people in your life TTC?
– Be Supportive: Simply listen and be ready to listen when called upon.
-Acknowledge infertility as a medical and emotional crisis with a wide variety of losses, disappointments, and ‘costs’: physical, financial, social, marital.
-Be sensitive to the pain, stress, and emotional pressure of childlessness or the inability to expand one’s family as desired. There are science backed ways to reduce stress- consider gifting guided mediations and mindfulness practices for the reduction of stress which is being found to affect most of our bodily systems and make-up, especially the effects on our fertility.
-Respect the boundaries the infertile individual or couple sets regarding their infertility TTC (Trying To Conceive). Some infertile people prefer a high level of privacy about infertility. Others choose a more open approach.
- Realize that no matter what they are going through, no matter where they are on the fertility journey— they are strong.
”Sometimes courage isn’t climbing Mount Everest or changing the world. Sometimes your mountain to climb is made up of weekdays and months, made up of pushing yourself forward even when you want to nestle into the past. Sometimes changing the world means changing your world as gradually as you need to, as gently as you heal, because sometimes courage isn’t made up of war and bloodshed; sometimes courage isn’t made of combat. Sometimes courage is a quiet fight, a dim softness within you, that flickers even on your darkest days and reminds you that you are strong, that you are growing—that there is hope.”
Do you know how to broken by infertility and TTC?
It’s NOT funny how cruel we can sometimes be to ourselves.
1 in 8 couples (or 12% of married women) have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy. (2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, CDC)
7.4 million women, or 11.9% of women, have ever received any infertility and TTC services in their lifetime. (2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, CDC)
Approximately one-third of infertility is attributed to the female partner, one-third attributed to the male partner and one-third is caused by a combination of problems in both partners or, is unexplained. (American Society For Reproductive Medicine)
A couple of ages 29-33 with a normal functioning reproductive system has only a 20-25% chance of conceiving in any given month (National Women’s Health Resource Center). After six months of trying, 60% of couples will conceive without medical assistance. (Infertility and TTC As A Covered Benefit, William M. Mercer, 1997)
That makes you pretty “normal” actually. you are in plenty of good company- we can’t all be broken, can we? It almost seems like infertility is a common and normal part of the human condition, Infertility and TTC doesn’t it?
Stop blaming yourself.
Stop feeling hopeless.
Stop basing your self-worth on your fertility.
Stop suffering silently.
Get solutions from here, broken by infertility and TTC
I’m afraid to ask… what are the worst things you have said to yourself in your darkest moments?