Tanja S. Faessler-Moro
CRG Counselling Research Group, Singapore
Title: A retrospective survey of counselling effects on stress and anxiety in women undergoing IVF in Singapore
Biography
Biography: Tanja S. Faessler-Moro
Abstract
In our centre, women undergoing ART follow the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) antagonist protocol for ovarian stimulation. They receive a human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) trigger followed by egg retrieval 36 hours later. Eggs are fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) then cultured for five days. Viable blastocysts are frozen. Single blastocysts are transferred via frozen embryo transfer (FET). Women who have difficulty conceiving and continuing a pregnancy experience a range of negative thoughts and emotions, ranging from self-blame, fear of failure and low mood, to somatization or reproductive trauma. They may have marital problems and difficulty balancing work with the demands of the IVF process. Generally in Asia, there is little professional psychological and emotional support offered to such women on their fertility journeys, despite evidence that promoting psychological well-being may build equanimity and compliance, and contribute to the probability of success in ART. In our clinic, patients who undergo ART routinely receive fertility counselling at two time periods when women have reported that they experience the most stress and anticipatory anxiety: just before embarking on ovarian stimulation, and the period between just prior to the FET and the pregnancy test. Some will elect to have further counselling sessions to address specific psychological and emotional issues. We will report the results of a retrospective audit conducted on women who underwent FET at our clinic during 2016 and 2017. Quantitative outcomes of ART will be reported, as well as qualitative feedback received from patients about the counselling sessions they had received.