IVF treatment has been a blessing for innumerable couples who were having a problem conceiving. In Vitro Fertilisation is the most successful fertility treatment so far. However, when it comes to medical treatment, nothing comes with a guarantee. The simplest procedure could go wrong due to an allergic reaction or an unexpected reaction by the patient's system. With IVF treatment, the situation is a little different. The concern is not of allergic reactions but of the failure of the patient to conceive successfully.
IVF Success rates: The probability of IVF success decreases with the age of the mother. In general, the success rate for the 1st cycle is 30%. By the 3rd cycle, over 70% of the women conceive successfully. IVF treatment is a matter of patience and adhering to the doctor’s instructions for medication and other dos and don’ts.
Some patients are disillusioned with their IVF treatment. They visit an IVF doctor with such hope and dreams of having a baby only to find out several months later that their treatment was not successful and there is no baby expected. Fertility treatment success rates vary from clinic to clinic. A small private clinic may not be able to offer specialised fertility treatment like reputed fertility clinics, and hence, patients end up getting disappointed with the failure of the treatment.
IVF treatment in India is very common, and one can find numerous hospitals, clinics and private doctors offering IVF services. There is no dearth of fertility solutions and IVF treatment. Almost every locality has a private practice setup of a doctor who offers fertility treatment. Today there is a great demand for IVF as the number of couples suffering from fertility problems is on the rise.
In Vitro Fertilisation has come to the rescue of lacs of people who cannot conceive. People who are diagnosed with a myriad of fertility problems all find their solution to pregnancy in IVF treatment. The term IVF has become a kind of blanket for a number of fertility treatments that are associated with it.
In Vitro Fertilisation is a concept that was devised several decades ago for conception. Doctors found that there were a number of different factors that were hindering normal conception. Among the men, it had to do mainly with the sperm count. They found that by placing the sperm closer to the fallopian tubes in the female anatomy, it may help with conception. The theory proved to be true, and the artificial insemination or Intrauterine insemination (IUI) came into existence. The male partner ejaculated into a sample container, and this semen was then further injected directly into the uterus of the female partner to improve the probability of getting pregnant.
Female fertility was a little more complicated. Some women suffered from ovulation disorders. In some cases, giving them hormones helped with inducing ovulation and with pregnancy. However, in severe cases like polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD), they needed a better solution and inducing ovulation did not suffice.
Some women were found to have blocked fallopian tubes. Treatment included surgery to remove the blockage, but in some cases, this was not successful and still posed a problem for conception. To deal with this problem, doctors realise that they would have to remove the egg from the ovary and fertilise it in the lab and place it back in the uterus. This was the initial concept on which the IVF treatment was based. Several decades ago, they were able to deliver the first baby born through IVF conception successfully. Ever since the first successful IVF baby, millions of babies have been born worldwide through IVF treatment.
The word In vitro fertilisation means fertilisation in a glass dish. The IVF treatment involves retrieving the eggs from the female partner and getting a semen sample from the male partner. They are put together in a glass dish for fertilisation. The embryo that is formed with this fertilisation is then transferred to the uterus of the female partner. This concept has worked well for many couples. For some other couples, it may take several tries before they are pregnant. So far, IVF has been the most successful fertility treatment.
There are many doctors and fertility clinics that offer IVF treatment to couples struggling with getting pregnant. IVF is the most popular fertility treatment, not just in India but globally as well. In India, many fertility doctors set up their private practices for fertility treatment with the basic required infrastructure. We also have the specialised fertility clinics with state of the art infrastructure and latest technology treatments and a panel of fertility doctors.
Some couples choose to get the best treatment there is and opt for IVF treatment at a reputed and specialised clinics while there are some couples who feel that a private setup can offer the same kind of treatment with more personalised care and cheaper IVF cost. But this ideology is questionable.
Some couples feel that getting their treatment from a doctor who has his private practice will assure them of a more personalised kind of treatment. They feel that they will share a better relationship with the doctor and can get detailed information about what is happening as the treatment progresses.
To a large extent, this is true. Most doctors with a private practice have fewer patients to tend to hence are able to spend more time with each patient. In fact, some of these doctors just have you as their only patients hence are able to give you all their time and attention without any hurry to meet other patients. Indian couples really like this, and this makes them feel important and special. This also gives them a false sense of hope and reassurance that they made the right choice of a doctor as he can focus all his attention on their treatment and ensure the success of the IVF treatment.
Some couples feel that if they go to a doctor with a private practice for their IVF treatment, then they can save money. But this is far from the truth. A doctor with a private practice is not performing a charity service.He is as keen on earning money from his profession as a bigger hospital. So to be under the false impression that you can get the same service for a cheaper cost is only an illusion.
Medicines cost the same unless a private doctor chooses to use medicines that are cheaper. One must keep in mind that these medicines may cost less but are also less effective. Sometimes the private clinics in a bid to reduce cost may compromise on the quality of the treatment.
The greatest disadvantage of a small private fertility clinic is the limited infrastructure. Infrastructure costs money and a small clinic are run by a doctor who is investing his own money in the infrastructure. To keep the cost to minimal, he ensures that the infrastructure is of the basic requirement.
Quite often, in complicated cases, the doctor does not have any other doctor to consult with and has to use his best judgement with the course of the treatment. At times this could be the cause for the IVF treatment not being successful.
Risk of un-reputed private fertility clinics
Some private fertility clinics cheat couples when they know that they are not pregnant, and the IVF procedure has failed. To avoid the patient blaming them for the poor quality treatment, they trick them into believing they are pregnant. The doctors believe that their responsibility ends after the IVF transfer. They give the patient HCG hormone injections just before the pregnancy test. The level of the HCG hormone in the blood or urine is used to check if the patient is pregnant. With this additional dose of HCG in the body given by the injection, the pregnancy test shows a positive result. The couple believes that the treatment was a success and they are pregnant when in actuality she is not pregnant. After a few days, they tell the patient that they had a miscarriage and are no longer pregnant.
This kind of deception does not happen in reputed fertility clinics, and hence, it is advisable to check the reputation of the doctor and the clinic before starting IVF treatment.
Some people wonder how infrastructure can make a difference in the outcome of the treatment. There are many ways that infrastructure can. Let us look at a medical centre like Medicover Fertility Clinic with state of the art lab facilities and latest model incubators which can allow the embryologist to monitor the embryo development and growth with great precision, as compared to a private fertility doctor with a limited setup, most of which do not have their own lab facility but are dependent on the facilities of other labs. The embryologist may not have a personalised interest in monitoring the embryo or even caring for them. In some cases, the embryos do not survive due to the poor facilities in the lab or overcrowding.
A well-outfitted fertility clinic can offer their patients a more professional treatment as they have the required setup for various procedures and a panel of specialised staff to carry out the various procedures.
The success of an IVF procedure depends to a large extent on the infrastructure and facilities available at the fertility clinic. Reputed fertility clinics invest in the latest equipment and tools which enable the doctors to provide their clients with better service and achieve a better success rate.
Leela and Puneet had their IVF treatment at a clinic in their locality. The doctor was a neighbour, and hence, they felt it was a perfect setup. Leela underwent the ovary stimulation and the egg retrieval procedure. The clinic did not have a lab setup, and they used another lab, which was at a distance. Leela’s eggs and Puneet’s semen sample were sent to the lab for fertilisation. The couple were asked to return in 3 days for the IVF procedure. Till date, the couple is not sure what happened after the egg retrieval. Of the 14 eggs that were extracted during the egg retrieval from Leela, it seemed that none of the eggs fertilised. Or so the lab claimed. This was the first realisation that Leela and Puneet had about the infrastructure and facilities of a fertility clinic and the lab. They took a second opinion from a doctor at Medicover and learned that the probability of not one egg fertilising out of 14 was near impossible unless the eggs were of extremely poor quality. However, the quality of eggs was hardly a concern since Leela was 29 years old. She was having IVF treatment as she had been diagnosed with bilateral blocked fallopian tubes. The couple signed up for IVF treatment at Medicover Fertility Clinic and were impressed at the professionalism and the facilities available. Leela conceived within the year, and they now realise what a mistake it is to go to a private clinic to save on treatment cost.
There are multiple benefits to choosing a reputed fertility clinic. When a clinic or a doctor is reputed, you can take advantage of the professional expertise of not just your doctor but also of the consultation with other doctors.
Experienced doctors: The skill and expertise of a doctor matters for any kind of medical treatment, not just fertility. Experience is counted not just by the number of years they have been practising but by the number of patients they have had over the course of their career.
Professional care: It is only a hospital with a proper infrastructure that can offer its patients professional care. Medicover Fertility Clinic takes the professional care one step further and ensures that each patient gets personalised professional care.
High quality of treatment: A specialised clinic offers its patients high-quality treatment. The fertility clinic has a reputation to maintain and hence ensure that every customer receives treatment of a certain standard.
Reduced side effects: When you have IVF treatment at a reputed fertility clinic, the chances of side effects from medication is drastically reduced. These clinics have the facilities to check for allergic reactions and have the antidote or required medication readily available.
Proper advice from doctors: The doctors at a reputed clinic are aware of the careless factors that could hamper the IVF treatment and hence advise patients accordingly. Many patients, in their ignorance, do things that lead to IVF failure. Proper advice of dos and don’ts given by the doctor is essential for IVF treatment patients. This helps to ensure a successful treatment.
THE MEDICOVER ADVANTAGE
Medicover Fertility Clinic is a leader in IVF treatment in Delhi & NCR. It has a number of fertility clinics in North India. Medicover offers patients fertility treatment using the latest technology methods and procedures. They have a panel of highly experienced and skilled doctors and embryologist. Medicover doctors are internationally certified and highly qualified with years of experience.
At Medicover a couple can expect personalised service. Each doctor is assigned a limited number of patients and hence is able to give individual attention to each couple. When a couple decides to undergo fertility treatment at Medicover, the first step is to chart out a baby plan. This is a plan which is designed in accordance with the patient’s medical condition, and fertility state as the treatment progresses the doctor updates a couple of the progress. Medicover follows a total transparency rule when it comes to dealing with patients. The parents to be are fully aware of every step of the treatment and the progress levels as well as setbacks. When something doesn’t work, and they have to change the course of treatment, the patients are included in the discussion, and their opinion is considered.
Information sharing and consulting with other doctors to make the best medical decision is an advantage that a patient can only feel at a specialised fertility clinic like Medicover. Medicover believes in teamwork, and that helps in achieving success.
