Getting Support - The Role Of The GP

Most couples start down the long road of infertility treatment with a visit to their GP. It may only be for advice or for reference on to more specialist services. Yet the GP's role in infertility treatment is often underestimated. The support and advice of a good one can be crucial - and it is certainly worth enlisting the support of yours. On a practical level your GP can make sure that initial tests are completed quickly and efficiently, and provide a smooth path into treatment. On a more personal level, your GP can give you continuity of care and support which specialist services cannot offer. This can be important when you end up seeing a different doctor at virtually every appointment at different hospitals and clinics over several years. Your GP should know both your medical and personal background and can advise you accordingly. If treatment does work, your GP can provide a bridge into antenatal care. If it does not, your doctor can guide you to the medical and personal alternatives.



Where the local authority has an agreed protocol for care between the different medical professions, such as the one agreed in Wakefield, the role of the GP in the physical care of the infertile couple is quite clear. Where there is no such agreement, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has drawn up guidelines for practice in infertility treatment, and these also set out advice to GPs and a description of initial assessments that should be made. Some expect couples to try to conceive naturally for one or even two years, before they will take their problems seriously. However, the College's guidelines stress that a couple concerned about their fertility should be seen - regardless of how long they have been experiencing problems. Unfortunately not all GPs know about them and some seem to know nothing at all about infertility treatment.





Shirley M. Duran is a mother of two and an author of a variety of related lifestyle issues and topics with which has helped hundreds of mothers become pregnant. If you have any pregnancy questions for which you need answers, it is recommended to visit: http://mypregnancyquestions.info/



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