Mental and Physical care in IVF
How do you feel when you are at the hospital?
Many people associate a hospital with a place where there is always tension and stress in dealing with lives.
The one person I look up to is my father. He built his own in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic and works as a doctor who conducts counselling and surgery for patients who wish to have a baby but are having difficulty doing so. As an aspiring doctor, I often talk with him about his clinic and what he cares about to make the patient feel safe and comfortable when getting treatment.
IVF treatment is a way to aid the pregnancy of the patient by taking out the egg and the sperm from the couple and fertilizing the egg in a laboratory. This fertilized egg then develops into an embryo, which is transferred back to the mother's uterus. This treatment may or may not work for the patient in the first trial; some people take years and years of treatment to be pregnant and give birth, and for some, it may not work completely. This uncertainty and fear of having an unsuccessful pregnancy impacts the mental health of the couples. Therefore, it is one of the significant responsibilities of the clinics to take care of their mental health along with their physical health.
Usually, when counselling a patient, the doctors ensure that the patient is in the best condition to get pregnant and carry the baby by conducting preconception health care. This way, the doctor aims to have a healthy mother and baby.
Also, a lot of clinics offer free counselling to help patients go through struggling and challenging times. This way, patients undergoing the IVF treatment are supported by their clinics.
On top of the above, some special things my father implemented in his clinic were first to ban the conventional uniform of healthcare workers, such as the white coats or scrubs that doctors and nurses wear. Instead, he implemented a relaxed-fit uniform for all the workers. He thought that the traditional uniform somewhat symbolizes the identity of healthcare workers, but often, it also can resemble a tense hospital atmosphere.
His aim was to create an environment where patients feel connected to the workers and comfortable enough to share their stress and anxiety, and this could not be achieved by the traditional uniform that could create a barrier between the patients and the workers.
Secondly, the whole clinic is built from wood, and massive windows and greenery are implemented all around the clinic, which contrasts with the conventional building made out of concrete. Lastly, they address their patients as a 'guest'. All of these small, detailed changes that my father implemented differ from traditional hospitals. He wanted to create a clinic where patients could feel comfortable, relaxed and excited to come instead of being anxious and stressed about their treatments.
I respect him not as my father but as a doctor, as he views healthcare both from the patient's and workers' side. This helps build a strong community between the workers and the 'guest,' which satisfies both parties as the workers will find the purpose of the job, and the effort and dedication that patients put into their treatments become more worth it.
This illustrates the significance of narrative medicine by putting yourself into the patient's shoes, and even a small change can make a huge difference in the patient's mental and physical well-being.
By Azuki Tokunaga (She/Her) | Blog Committee Member
