NationStates Jolt Archive

It's long been known that clowns can produce therapeutic benefits in children's wards, but now they're being used to assist IVF: linky (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2235657,00.html).




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THERAPEUTIC clowning may be a way to help IVF patients.

Research at the Assaf Harofeh Medical Centre near Tel Aviv suggested that entertaining women with a clown as they recovered from IVF treatment could nearly double the chances of success.

Patients who were visited by a clown soon after embryos were transferred to the womb — one of the most stressful IVF phases — had a pregnancy rate of 35.5 per cent compared with 19.3 per cent among women on non-humour treatment.

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Now this is all heart-warming stuff, but think of the implications ......

Should the clowns be provided free on the NHS (or local equivalent)? Or are they like elective surgery - something that should be charged for?

Also, if they work at one end of pregnancy, could they help at the other end? Should there be a clown on hand in maternity suites at all times? Or should there be mixed medical support teams consisting of midwife, doctor and clown?

And how about natural conception? If it works for IVF, why not? Should wannabe parents replace the post-coital cigarette with a post-coital clowning session? Or, even better, should a professionally qualified clown be present at the act of conception itself?


Poll coming ...... (if I can work out how)

You should destroy this evidence.
Lunatic "Flesh Skep" Goofballs will use this as his desiderata. Indeed, he's the sire of two already! :eek:
http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/554.gif

O joy to all these stupid investigations. Why don't they start searching for the actual cause and get past the whole clown-thingy? I think clowns are evil, not only IT, and may it be so that they help for pregnancy: 1) there is an accidental thing they activate in the motherwomb, which is not a necessary clown-thingy , and 2) ! the baby will become an evil insect because of the influence of the clown!

It's enough to make me want to go into this clowning gig full-time. But I'm what the extreme right-wing'd consider an "evil clown", so I probably wouldn't get booked into any private clinics. I mean, assuming I'd go entertaining people who'd book into a private clinic in the first place. Or choose IVF over adoption.

*affixes propellor bow tie and best light-up red rubber nose*

Nah man, I'll stick to entertaining other people, by entertainingly sticking it to the Man whenever possible.

*honks horn and speeds away on miniature tricycle*

I wonder how they feel about this? http://www.stopclownpornnow.org/about/index.html

Sounds like Clownsploitation to me.