Mediclinic’s Midlands Fertility Health Centre promotes holistic care for prospective parents

Obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Kasturi Moodley and embryologist Stacey Wilson co-founded Midlands Fertility Health Centre in 2020

Offering holistic fertility care within Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg Day Clinic to support patients facing fertility challenges with compassion and expertise.

Having identified the trauma associated with fertility challenges and the lack of fertility services in her area, Dr Kasturi Moodley, an obstetrician gynaecologist, teamed up with an embryologist – and with the support of Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg, started the Midlands Fertility Health Centre in 2020. Together with her co-founder, embryologist Stacey Wilson, Dr Moodley now operates the centre inside the Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg Day Clinic. It provides holistic care to those seeking fertility treatments and support.

Providing emotional support during fertility treatments

Dr Moodley’s special interest in fertility developed as she consistently saw patients experiencing difficulties conceiving. Since there was no fertility treatment available in Pietermaritzburg, Dr Moodley had to refer them to major cities for further intervention. “The most disappointing part of it was when those patients came back, successful or not, they were so traumatised by their experience that some of them never returned for treatment,” she says. Driven by her concern, she set out towards establishing her own fertility centre. After meeting Wilson, the vision became reality with the founding of the Midlands Fertility Health Centre – the only fertility clinic in Pietermaritzburg.

“We’ve found that being an all-female team, truly believing in our work, and genuinely caring for our patients creates an environment where they feel completely at ease,” says Dr Moodley. “Even if there's a negative outcome, we know that at least we've managed them in a manner that they’re not traumatised and still feel able to make informed future choices.”

As Dr Moodley explains, the fertility journey is as much emotional as it is physical. There is also a direct link between sperm production and stress, adds embryologist Stacy Wilson, so emotional support and encouraging a healthy, low-stress lifestyle can help promote a successful in vitro fertilisation (IVF) process. “We feel that the end result, the success of a treatment, is largely dependent on the psychological part of the journey – the way in which you handle patients and their journey.” 

Involving patients in the fertility process

That’s why Wilson ensures patients have a front-row seat in their own journey. By showing them photos or videos of their eggs, sperm, or embryos – something most have never seen – she helps replace uncertainty with understanding and perspective. “Seeing things with your own eyes is important, because I see a lot of things in the lab that nobody else does. So showing patients what's going on and what their options are makes a big difference to them.”

It's important to give people that level of understanding, Dr Moodley says. “Ensuring each couple or patient truly understands what’s happening with them has been missing for so many who come to us. They’ve been in the system for years or even decades, but they still have no clarity on what exactly the problem is.”

This is exacerbated by the fact that fertility issues, unlike other conditions, often come with a degree of embarrassment, she adds. “Patients feel like this is self-inflicted pain and that they are the problem. That goes very deep. “So, when you explain what’s happening in their body – just like with diabetes, where the pancreas isn’t working – it’s simply another organ in the gynaecological system that isn’t functioning. That understanding helps piece them back together. We need to remove the taboo and blanket of silence around fertility and let them know it’s not their fault.”

Whether or not it’s something that can be treated, patients leave the centre feeling relieved and able to move forward with their new-found understanding. “We can change a person’s life so significantly, walking through the journey with the patient, hand in hand, and allowing them to see what exactly is going on,” says Dr Moodley.

“For some patients being on that journey, being successful to the point of an embryo is more than they ever thought possible, and through this you heal them. There’s no better reward than making that kind of a difference in a person's life, especially when you get a positive pregnancy test.”

Mediclinic supports top-class fertility care

Having recently moved into its Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg Day Clinic premises, the Midlands Fertility Health Centre has the latest equipment and can provide access to Mediclinic’s suite of medical services. The centre’s incubator features dual gas chambers that expose embryos to both CO₂ and nitrous oxide, a process proven to improve embryo quality and increase pregnancy rates.

But the success of the centre also comes down to genuine care and teamwork. “When Mediclinic took us under their wing, they allowed us to put all our energy into dealing with the patients and doing what we’re passionate about,” says Dr Moodley.

What’s vital, she adds, is that patients leave the centre knowing they’ve been given the best chance at parenthood. “We’re all attempting to deal with the patient as a whole, so their experience is as positive as possible, and they have no regrets later on.”

Dr Moodley advises people facing fertility challenges to find a reputable fertility clinic, and ensure they know exactly what is going on and what interventions are available so they can make informed decisions. “There is never no hope,” she says.