Fill in the blank with what ever adjective you desire after reading this. I chose the f word.
I got an e-mail from the acupuncturist I used to see for fertility. She specializes in women’s health and supposedly has a strong rate of getting women knocked up. I did enjoy her services, although they did not help anything, they were relaxing. I am by no means saying acupuncture does not work. My belief is on the contrary, but it did not help my pregnancy related issues and that just sucks. It was expensive and time consuming and now stressful.
The acupuncturist I saw acted very compassionate to the emotional stress of infertility and informed me that she would like to focus on this area and combine her acupuncture with yoga to help infertile women with a mind body approach. Good idea, well, if once women get pg they magically disappear and are not spoken of ever again. When will people get it that these areas cannot overlap if the application is truly going to be therapeutically beneficial??? There is no benefit of my acupuncture appointment if I leave the room and am bombarded by the herd of pregnant women attending prenatal yoga and having to hear them complaining about having to run to the bathroom often during class (my acupuncturist in in a yoga studio). This happened when I had a Saturday morning acupuncture appointment and I soon avoided this time slot for the very reason of wasting the $75 the session cost me. When I provided feedback to my acupuncturist about this I sensed she didn’t get it.
Now I know she didn’t get it. Not too long ago she send an e-mail to her client base, mostly infertiles, letting them know of her new location/services. Click it and find out why I am so pissed off that I have not found a productive way to respond. I could inform her of her poor business decision, give her the harsh reality, or just ask to be taken off the list. The last option seems too simple becasue I do feel the need to be justified as legitimately annoyed by her actions. I guess that fact that I will no longer recommend her, which I had done quite a bit, is all the action I will probably take.
She doesn’t get. She never will. She will probably throw some mind-body-shit at me about why I can not see the value of this. I will not return to her services….EVER.
November 8, 2007 at 5:53 pm
“where mamas and their families can connect with other mamas…”
Oh, I’ll finish it for you, plus add my favorite little extra: What the Fuckity-Fuck?!!
I do find it interesting that she has no children, though. You would think that she WOULD get it.
November 8, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Um, maybe she’s looking to alienate lots of her clients so they’ll stop coming and she’ll have more free time? Because otherwise, I’m just not getting it.
November 9, 2007 at 12:11 am
Guess there’s a lot more money in all that pregnany/post pregnancy stuff than bitter infertiles.
November 9, 2007 at 1:51 am
She sends a link to her web site for her mostly infertile clientele that has only pictures of pregnant women and babies on – definitely WTF!
November 9, 2007 at 9:50 am
I wonder if you’d actually say the same things about your doctor? The fact is that there are many factors that go into fertility treatment and why some women cannot conceive (lifestyle, genetics, husband’s sperm, not following acupuncturist’s advice, age, wanting quick results and yes, sometimes the treatment is not right). There is no such thing as a magic bullit. I’m quite sure that if you had conceived you’d be praising this acupuncturist from here to the heavens.
You say that it was expensive and time consuming? Honey…you’re trying to get pregnant, what you do you think that this is… McDonalds? Did you try going to a Western fertility specialist? If you think that $75 a pop is expensive then you’ll be in for a very rude suprise when you go to a western doctor.
November 9, 2007 at 10:32 am
Well, md, if you have read any of my other posts you would find that even though my MD did not get us pg and we paid a lot, I still think very highly of him. He understood there was more to infertility than his realm of services.
If you read my post, you would realize I was not critisizing her practice, but rather her poor business decision. My MD would not send out info about mommy & me classes to all his infertile patients. The acupuncturist did.
BTW: I was trying to get pg, no longer am.
November 9, 2007 at 12:00 pm
There’s a McDonalds I can go to to get pregnant??!
Do I get fries with that, or at least a warm apple pie?
Obviously, above is just an example how some people pay (not) attention to the full context of what another has written.
Not to start a flaming (ok, yes I will), but md obviously is NOT an M.D. or s/he would not refer to one as a “western doctor”. Damn. Now I have a mental picture of my RE wearing a cowboy hat and spurs. And it’s me getting into the stirrups!
The point I believe the author of this post was trying to make is that if you are going to send out brochures or advertisements to someone with known infertility, the last thing we want to see is a group of belly bumps staring back at us. Maybe one or two to get the idea that hey, this service may help me get from point A to point B, but that’s not at all how her website comes across. The services appear to be specifically geared to already pregnant women.
So, md, I am presuming you practice some form of CM? And you must have some passing interest in infertility? I would suggest then that you take into consideration this little exchange if you ever decide to create a website or send out flyers, mmkay?
Jitters, if you don’t feel like intertaining this pissing match, feel free to delete my comment. I feel better just for saying it.
November 9, 2007 at 12:12 pm
What the shit?!?
I think that if you have a moment, and feel like expending the energy (you are WELL within your rights to decide not not give her any more of your time) you could write her an e-mail explaining the impact of this business decision…
Then again… if she really DOESN’T get it (and I think this is the case), then at least her website reflects her inability to get it & will warn people away from the start. I guess no one should be deceived about how she deals with/doesn’t deal with infertile clients.
Unless she’s ONLY a prenatal and “mama” acupuncturist, I think the website is dreadful. Just dreadful.
Ick.
Reminds me of a massage therapist who I used to see. She asked what had been going on with me, and I told her about my 4 losses, and then the WHOLE FUCKING HOUR she talked about her daughter’s pregnancies, and the m/c that her daughter had and ON and ON and ON. I’d never been so tense in my life as I was when I walked out of that “massage therapy.”
November 9, 2007 at 12:20 pm
PS- md is insane.
PPS– that little logo with that strange “pregnant” outline perched atop a lotus flower should be warning enough anyone, fertile, infertile, what-have-you, that this place seems more about fetishizing pregnancy than addressing the wellness needs of women or children.