Your quest for a child must begin with a good doctor

 

At the time of talking to us, Blessy George is cradling her 24 day old son. She has waited 5 years to hold a baby in her hand. Her joy is unbridled. She says, her husband and she couldn't have asked for a better start to the new year.

 

For many couples like Blessy and her husband, 2022 is beginning on a good note. However, in their newfound joy, each of them also know they are a beacon of hope for the millions whose wait for a child has still to end.

By one authoritative source, India today has close to 17 million couples affected by infertility. Blessy's gynaecologist, Dr Mangala Devi, meets hundreds of them every year as part of her practice. The doctor is optimistic for all of them; she says modern medical science is full of possibilities and promises!

 

Blessy agrees wholeheartedly — being the beneficiary herself! However, she says, much also depends on the couples finding a good doctor — the kind who is not only an able professional but also a guide, philosopher and confidante to them!

Finding the doctor

 

Enough has already been said on infertility and on the possibilities in modern medicine to treat it. However, in most of the conversations on the subject, the point rarely made is the bond that must exist between doctor and patient.

 

“Not everyone in my community may agree to the idea, but as a gynaecologist, I believe I address a fundamental need of humans to procreate. I fail in my job if I can’t connect to them at that human level,” says Dr Mangala. “For me, professional detachment just does not work.”

Indeed so! For many couples, dealing with infertility can be traumatising. To manage them, a doctor has sometimes to go beyond her established order.

 

Anju Bala (name changed on request), one of Dr Mangala’s patients, says stress begins to build the moment a woman realises that she is unable to conceive naturally.

 

“You feel deprived; as if you have been passed over by nature,” she says. To make matter worse, you have also the extended families worrying at you. “When is the baby coming…, why is the baby not coming!”

 

“It is just too much pressure. It is mortifying.”

 

Further trouble breaks on her when the lines of treatment prescribed to her start to fail.

“People often come for treatment carrying the notion that procedures such as IVF are a sure-cure for infertility, which is not the case,” says Dr Mangala. “Everything is subject to condition. Even an inviolate timeline can’t be given!”

 

“And then of course there are the cost implications…”

 

It is important that from the outset the doctor sets the right expectations so as the couples do not face stress, disappointment and frustration later, she says.

Stress is the last thing expectant couples need. In fact, there is raft of research now that point to the deleterious impacts of stress and anxiety on women trying to conceive, especially during infertility treatment.

Anju, herself kept to Dr Mangala’s treatment for three years, despite experiencing failure several times during the course. The only reason she stayed on that long was because Dr Mangala could keep the former’s trust as well as her hopes alive for the entire period.

 

Today, as a result, Anju is mother to a beautiful baby boy!

 

(Dr Mangala is the Director of Smile Baby IVF, Bengaluru)

CONTACT US

Smile Baby IVF
Hennur Main Road, Below Fly over
Lingarajapuram,
Bangalore-560084,
Karnataka, India
Mob: 8884752134, 9686382856

 

Smile Baby IVF
Shishuka Childrens Speciality Hospital
(A Unit of Shishuka Health Care Pvt. Ltd) #938,
Ring Road Service Road,
Kalyan Nagar,
HRBR Layout Bangalore- 560043
Mob:  8884752134, +918088376374, +918660821311