Reply To: SUCCESS WITH IVF AT 40 – It is not what you think.

[Sharon Bacigalupi]

Thank you Lorne for posting this – As a practitioner, its easy to tie our own success to that of our patients, but when it comes to fertility, that is a really high bar and can easily result in burnout.

I have to remind myself that under the best circumstances, someone in their prime fertility will only have a 25% chance of getting pregnant on any given cycle – and most of the patients I see in my clinic to do not fall into that category as they have been struggling for long periods of time for various reasons – DOR, RPL, endometriosis, PCOS, dysmenorrhea, etc. Even with this reminder to myself, its hard to not get burnt out or question your skill if patients aren’t becoming pregnant since that is what they are coming to you for.

We want our patients to get what they come in for and share their amazing stories with others so that their friends/families also come to you for acupuncture. It’s a big ask and its hard not to get discouraged at times and question our effectiveness as a practitioner. I think this is true in many areas, but especially for fertility and when in private practice.

I’m curious to hear how others measure their successes, manage situations where even after seeing patient who has done all you have asked, still does not get pregnant – they often leave thinking acupuncture didn’t work (we of course know that it does work, that it most likely improved their overall well-being regardless of pregnancy outcome), get out of negative mind set loops and help prevent burnout.

All these thoughts are reasons why I am so happy to be a part of this program/mentorship. To learn new ways to reverse and prevent burn out (which I am feeling right now!), to be able to find measurable ways to reflect on success (without feeling indulgent or weird about it), finding ways to grow as a practitioner while balancing work/family and seeing different practice styles that could be wonderful options for growth and renewal.