In my office, the first consultation is usually prolonged. When we meet, we start to know each other, I assess the situation of the patients to establish the therapeutic strategy and I usually explain each of the following steps. Explaining, teaching, helping understand, are crucial aspects of our daily practice. Patients who consult for assisted reproduction treatment need and value the dedication we give them so that they are also part in the decision-making process.

There is another very important moment in the office: the consultation after the treatment. When things go well, it’s easy to talk about how good it happened. But when the result is negative, talking is fundamental. Reassessing what we did well and what we should change in the future. Thinking about doing a similar treatment or going for alternatives. Explaining, again, is the key word. Giving information, helping understanding, building a support that is useful for the couples who feel that things did not work.

A few days ago, Holter et al published a study in the journal Human Reproduction, which evaluated how the quality of care in IVF treatment was perceived, and whether there were differences between the perceptions of women and male. Interestingly, first, although the pattern of choosing those aspects that were relevant was similar in men and women, women generally rated each aspect with a higher score, giving greater importance. After the item “medical care”, the item “post-treatment information” was considered highly relevant in the quality of care. The importance of the information provided is not new. It was described in other studies previously published by Souter et al in 1998, Schmidt et al in 2003 and Mourad et al in 2010. In fact, van Empel et al in 2010 reported that the main weakness in health care was related to the continuity care and emotional support.

In short, this is not a personal opinion, but it is supported by this study and others which were previously published.