my experience
CalmMoment.com 53COPING WITH IVF
If you don’t ‘click’ with your consultant, change.
It is hugely important you feel supported by them,
and confident in their abilities.
Resist the temptation to endlessly Google
different ways to help IVF work. Your clinic will tell
you all you need to know.
If you want to shut yourself away for weeks, do!
Relax. Hot baths may be off the table, but go for
walks, meditate, or do light exercise.
Eat nourishing food: leafy greens, pulses, fish.
Not because it will help with IVF; just because it
will help your body feel good. But eat cake, too,
if you want it.
Sleep and rest.
“Attend a support group attached to your clinic
so you can chat to others who truly understand
your feelings,” advises Diane Arnold, fertility nurse
at Fertility Network UK. Visit fertilitynetworkuk.org
to find your local group.
Above all, be kind to yourself;
it is a very tough process
OFFERING SUPPORT
“Find out about what the forthcoming treatments
involve, so you have a little knowledge about what
they will go through,” advises Diane.
Ask what they need. Some people will want to talk
about it as it’s all they can think about; so just listen.
Others will want distraction.
Likewise, some people will just want to be off-grid
for a while, whereas others will really appreciate
a daily text.
Don’t say ‘I know how you feel’ – if you simply
don’t. Be respectful of that and don’t compare the
experience to something you’ve been through –
unless you’ve actually had IVF yourself.
“Offer to accompany them to appointments
if they are facing it alone,” says Diane.
Be positive for them, but don’t promise it will all
work out – you can't possibly know.
Here are a few ways to support
a friend going through IVF