Jenifer and Paul are both in their late thirties and live in Ireland. They married five years ago they have been trying to conceive but have been unsuccessful. They have discussed concerns with their GP and results from hormone profiles and sperm analysis were not of concern. However a subsequent laparoscopy indicated that Jennifer had endometriosis and this could explain their difficulties conceiving. They were very anxious to have a child and so proceeded to IVF treatment; to date they have had two unsuccessful rounds of IVF. Their GP has also advised them about health behaviours associated with infertility such as obesity, alcohol and smoking. Jennifer and Paul feel they are healthy although Jennifer has gained some weight which she attributes to stress, comfort eating and the hormone treatment, she exercises regularly and has a BMI of 28. They both continue to drink alcohol as they believe they ‘need to carry on as normal’ and their friends and family have told them they need to relax.
Recently they have been successful in their IVF treatment and are 10 weeks pregnant, given their age they are considering Non-Invasive Pre-natal Testing (NIPT), their Consultant Obstetrician has offered to conduct the ‘Harmony’ NIPT at a cost of €500 which can be carried out at 10 weeks gestation.
Assignment Task:
Please carefully read the above case description and then provide answers to the questions. Your task is to research, analyse and write up the case from a Professionalism perspective.
Discuss the case with consideration of the following discussion points
Health and Society
• What factors are influencing the health behaviours in this case? Do they interact?
• Consider the relevance of health literacy to this situation?
• What social norms and cultural context do you believe contribute to the current situation in respect to IVF in Ireland?