According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last year, more women over the age of 40 (at a time when infertility sets in) are having babies compared toprevious years. Contrary to popular belief though, the delays in having children for some of these women was not because of a deliberate decision to put career first, but rather because they didn’t meet Mr Right early enough or some may not even have met Mr Right by now. The reason many of these older women were able to have babies was because of assisted reproduction provided by fertility clinics. These assisted reproduction include ovulation cycle tracking, ovulation induction (OI), artificial insemination,in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), fertility surgery and complementary/alternative therapies (e.g. vitamins, mineral, herbal, homoeopathic, nutritional and other supplements, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, naturopathy, chiropractic, osteopathy, aromatherapy and reflexology. According to Dr Michael Gannon, the president of the Australian Medical Association in WA, some 7% of babies are now conceived via fertility treatment. That is certainly good news for older women because it means that they haven’t missed the boat and, therefore, don’t have to miss the joys of motherhood. However, with so many types of assisted reproduction available, where should a woman hoping to be a motherbegin? Which fertility clinic in Melbourne should she choose?
I Google searched fertility clinics in Melbourne and it listed more than 30 out there. That does not even include the thousands ofhealth professionalswho specialize in infertility treatments. Imagine having to choose the right health professional from a field of thousands. How would a prospective patient select them? That is when it would be extremely helpful to have some sort of a tool that compares the various health professionals.Fortunately for us, in this age of digital technology, we have such tools at our fingertips. There are websites that store detailed profiles of information on health professionals, which allow prospective patients to search and compare the thousands of health professionals in any medical field.These information profiles are compiled by a team of specialists who work with the health professionals to ensure that the websites have as much information as possible about them. Why compare? Why is it important to compare health professionals, in the first place?
- Because like any patient with his/her own unique health needs and requirements, not all health professionals are the same. This is because not all health professionals have the same expertise and experience to best meet the health needs and requirements of alltheir prospective patients.
- Because,asin the case of any profession, expertise and experience particularly in the area of infertility can be the difference between success or failure in helping a patient to get pregnant.
- Because like any successful working team, personality and shared values can make a difference.The right match can unite a team and make the journey of infertility treatment more pleasant. However, the wrong match can cause friction and become an unnecessary distraction during this journey.
- Because we don’t need another thing to worry and get stressed about, comparing prices will allow us to know what we can afford and help us to stay on budget.As stress itself can be a barrier to falling pregnant, less stress would mean a better chance of conceiving.
- Because when all else is equal, it is the little things that make a health professional stand out amongst his/her peers; things such as punctuality, attention to detail and facilities. These little things can give the prospective patient a clue of whether the health professional takes pride in his/her job and hence, a reflection on the standard of service the prospective patient can expect from the health professional, if selected.
Most of us would not hire a tradesman that has the reputation of being unreliable, consistently late or careless with his work and work equipment. So why would we blindly go with any fertility clinic or health professional? Surely our health is way more important than any trade work.Therefore, why not spend some time searching and comparing the profiles of health professionals to find out what qualification, expertise and experience they have, how accessible they are, whether they bulk bill, how past patients rate them and what these patients have to say about them?