preparing for appointments

Preparations for appointments should start as soon as the couple and the fertility specialist decide on the time for starting treatment.

before the treatment starts

Prior to starting treatment, there are some tips to consider:

Ensure you have flexible working hours and reduce your social plans.
Ensure that you know the day-to-day activities of the clinic.
Check whom you can go to with your questions or problems and enquire how and when these people can be reached.
Consider who will be able to support you.
Talk to other people who have undergone the same treatment.
Find a pharmacy that stocks all the items you will need for the treatment, including anything needed to administer treatment.
Check the expiry date of drugs.
Build up a relationship with the clinic personnel (try, for example, to talk to the same nurse as much as possible).
Use potential stress-reducing techniques that work for you (such as walking, relaxation techniques, participating in a discussion group or visiting a counsellor).
Find a back-up person to administer injections, if necessary.

When the treatment starts, couples must try to do the following:

Drink sufficient water every day.
Eat three nutritious meals a day (discuss special diets, if necessary, with a nurse or doctor).
Keep your partner involved during the treatment by getting him/her to administer medication or injections, for example, and/or coming along to appointments.
Both partners must ensure that they have a healthy lifestyle (reduce, for example, tobacco and alcohol intake or, ideally, quit).
Take a folic acid supplement.