Canadian Fertility Awareness Week
“Vancouver Island patients will finally be able to access comprehensive world-class fertility care close to home,” says Dr Mills. “Our new Victoria clinic will have a state-of-the-art IVF lab and the most up-to-date technology available.
VICTORIA, British Columbia (PRWEB)
April 25, 2023
The World Health Organization released a study on infertility in April stating that infertility is a global health issue affecting one in six people worldwide who are trying to conceive and that accessibility to fertility care is a major problem. A recent Stats Canada study shows that fertility rates in Canada are dropping with Victoria having the lowest fertility rate in Canada.
“We are seeing infertility rates growing in BC and across Canada as more women delay having children due to lack of a partner, pursuit of education or career, and/or, particularly in Vancouver and Victoria, the cost of living and the lack of affordable housing,” says Dr Ginevra Mills MD, a fertility specialist at Olive Fertility Victoria. “In addition, there are an increasing diversity of families including LGBTQ families and single parents which may require assisted reproductive technology to build their family.”
The new Olive Fertility Victoria Centre, which opened a temporary clinic in April 2022, is scheduled to open their new full-service IVF clinic in James Bay, September 2023.
“Vancouver Island patients will finally be able to access comprehensive world-class fertility care close to home,” says Dr Mills. “Our new Victoria clinic will have a state-of-the-art IVF lab and the most up-to-date technology available. This will significantly reduce wait times for treatment and reduce the stress and expense of having to travel to Vancouver for fertility treatment.”
In addition to the new Victoria clinic, Dr Chad Van Tongeren MD, an OB/GYN in Comox, is partnering with Olive Fertility Victoria at his Ocean View Fertility Clinic (oceanviewfertility.com) to offer fertility care including comprehensive fertility testing, intrauterine insemination, and ultrasound monitoring for IVF cycles.
“This will benefit fertility patients who live in Central and North Vancouver Island by providing accessible fertility care and support for IVF close to home thus minimizing the need to travel to Victoria or Vancouver,” says Dr Van Tongeren.
The stress of infertility is something that Stephanie Curran, clinical director at Elements of Health Clinic in Victoria, knows all too well, both as a fertility acupuncturist and mindfulness instructor who treats women and men with fertility issues, and as a patient who has endured her own challenging journey to motherhood.
“After working with a specialty in acupuncture and fertility support for 10 years, I found myself in the ironic situation of embarking on my own fertility journey. I was shocked to find out at 35 that I had poor ovarian reserve,” says Curran.
Over the course of two years Curran did everything to optimize her overall health and wellbeing with acupuncture, herbs, changes in diet, exercise, yoga, and meditation practice, as well as seeing a fertility specialist and having assisted reproductive treatments, including two IVF cycles.
Curran teaches Mindfulness for Fertility in addition to being a certified acupuncturist. “My doctor told me the news of my very low AMH 2 hours before I was leaving for a week-long silent meditation retreat! I found mindfulness practice was so helpful to me through the distress of not knowing if I would ever be a mom that I’m passionate about teaching it and supporting others.”
Studies have shown that Western medical treatment combined with evidence based natural treatments and a mindfulness practice can optimize the chances of getting pregnant as well a restoring a fertility patient’s sense of control and agency.
Olive Fertility is partnering with Elements of Health clinic to offer a free virtual information talk on April 26th to support those struggling with infertility. The Zoom talk will cover causes and treatments for infertility, advances in technology as well as evidence-based natural treatments and mindfulness techniques to optimize the chances of getting pregnant and relieve stress and anxiety. https://www.olivefertility.com/events
With clinics in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna, Olive Fertility Centre olivefertility.com is one of Canada’s leading fertility clinics, offering an award-winning IVF lab, personal care teams, and innovative programs including IVF, Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), donor sperm, donor eggs, surrogacy, egg freezing.
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