Helping with your mental health

Infertility and IVF During Lockdown – 25/04/20 Due to social distancing measures, infection control and staff being allocated elsewhere all IVF clinics in the UK have been forced to close indefinitely, with no clear idea of when they might reopen. The effect on their patients has been immense, for some people treatment was halted before it really started and for others they have had to pause during treatment usually after egg collection and their embryos frozen for transfer at a later date. Devastatingly, others might have had a failed cycle and have no way of discussing the outcome or next steps. Everyone is stuck in some sort of limbo and this can make people feel a mixture of emotions such as anger, resentment, sadness, frustration and a continuing feeling of unfairness. Let’s face it, having to have treatment in the first place is unfair.  Of course, some people might feel relief.  Relief that they don’t have to go into a hospital at this time, or if they were to ...

Should I try and conceive during this time if I have previously experiences a loss? For a lot of people trying to conceive is a wait and see scenario but for others it’s a decision not taken lightly, especially if you are trying again after loss.  For many being able to try for another baby as soon as possible after a loss is really important.  The desire to have a baby that you can bring home is often incredibly strong and something that many people who have not been through it don’t understand. Trying again after loss is always fraught with anxiety, worried if we are doing the right thing or are we putting our unborn baby at risk from not eating the right foods, not exercising enough or too much etc.  Then the real worry that it might happen again, and although statistically its unlikely, no one can tell us for definite that it won’t, well, that’s because it might and it does.  Our mind set has completely changed, this is a new normal, we are changed b...