IVF at Birmingham Women & children hospital

[ChipButty22]

Hi, so today we had our first phone consultation at BWCH after being referred nearly 12 months ago.
While the consultation was informative, time scales seemed be to very vague. Following today I’m now waiting for a pelvic scan appointment and bloods.

I was just wandering if anyone has had IVF on NHS at BWCH and what timescale they had.

if anyone else is currently starting this journey please feel free to reach out. The waiting alone is a journey we all need support through.

thanks

J

Hi there, just wondering if you have already done the pelvic scan and bloods?

I'm on the BWCH waiting list and haven't been given the initial phone consultation yet, so just to have a better understanding on timescales. Also, you mentioned you did wait for 12 months until the initial appointment, but how many weeks in advance did you receive the appointment letter?

Thanks!!

Hi,

So I’ve had the AMH bloods done as this is a walk in service (cost £100 for this blood test), I’m still waiting for my scan appointment to come through. Think it may have been quicker if my gp organised some tests
before hand but because we are known male factor issue he just referred us without any tests on me.

I chased my initial consultation up in may and they gave me an appointment for the end of July. I would definitely give them a call
to chase this up.

J

Thanks for your answer. I was told by BWCH that the waiting list is at least 12 months for the initial phone appointment.

Did they explain you about the process and what's funded by the NHS? I'm a bit confussed as NHS says that they offer 3 embryo transfers, but have came across a policy from the local ICB saying that here they just offer one transfer of fresh embryo and nothing else is covered (i.e. additional transfers, embryo freezing, etc). Did they mention sonething about this on your phone consultation?

Thanks! xx

So I was told 7 months waiting time for my
initial consultation and chased them up
after this date as I had not heard anything.

We are going for funding for IVF ICSI and the nhs will only cover 1 cycle. The amount of embryos transferred for each cycle depends on certain factors just as age and quality of the embryo - we are looking at using only 1 from out Croatia so far. During the consultation they explained the actual process of IVF medically, such as medication and things but couldn’t comment on waiting times for tests and funding etc.

Once all my tests have been completed we then go back for another consultation and an assessment will be arranged for funding.

Im hoping to know much more at this stage so will keep you posted.

J

Hi,

I just wondered if either of you have any updates on timescales from the BWH? I've been told it's a 52 week wait and I'm about seven months in. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi hope you're well ☺️ I hope you don't mind me clarifying something. I am also on the waiting list for them. Have you already had IVF previously as you mentioned Croatia? I was under the impression this means you can't receive any NHS funding.

We have four frozen embryos which we paid for privately (as told my AMH was very low at age 25 and also have endo) but we haven't had any transfers. I'm on the waiting list for this clinic but am expecting they will say they can't help me now. But they wouldn't refer me when I was 25 and it took 8 years to get an endo diagnosis hence freezing embryos privately as I knew I may not have much time. Thank you

Hi all,

apologies about my previous post, I have no idea what word my phone decided to auto correct to Croatia! But to confirm, I have had no previous cycles.

My AMH levels have just come back very low too so once I’ve had this scan I’m hoping we will know more. I’m still waiting for an appointment for this but have been advised by others to expect around an 18 week wait.

I can’t give any further details on waiting times as once again we are at a stand still.

J

Hi,

just to update you on my timescale and what was needed from us so far:

August 2023 - referral made by GP

2024
July 25th- phone consultation with fertility dr - need bloods and pelvic scan
July 26th - started taking folic acid
August 8th - AMH & TFT bloods taken
August 20th- AMH blood results received
September 18th - funding letter received
September 23rd - received log in for portal to complete some paperwork (needed gp info, you and partners NHS number & passport info, year of last smear test) they also ask about medical history. There are some videos you watch regarding Zika virus and Ebola, followed by questions about the videos. Consent form you need to complete (needs to match what your partner completes on theirs)

Our next step is a phone consultation with a nurse which the current waiting time is around 1 month. I have still not received the pelvic scan but gave them a call and they have received my referral and I’m just on the waiting list (they couldn’t give times)

J x

Thank you for the update. It looks as though when they say its 12 months from referral its actually a bit longer than that.

@ChipButty22 I just wondered how you are getting on with Birmingham Women's Hospital?

@DevonDancer we had a consultation on 5th, they require nothing else from us so we may be starting starting treatment February. It’s getting very real now.
How’s it going for yourself?

Great news that you’ve made progress! I think we will have a similar wait to you. I called recently and they said our first appointment will be May which will be 12 months after the referral.

@ChipButty22 It would be great to know what you thought of the BWH once you have had your treatment. Good luck!

@DevonDancer thank you. We started treatment on 15th January and had our embryo transfer on 17th February.
I cannot fault BWH during this process, I have found them very supportive. They have answered all our questions and I’ve never felt during an appointment. They explained everything every step of the way.
if you have any questions about any part of the treatment, please let me know and I will do my best to answer based on my experience. Any further updates your end?

Felt rushed during**

Thank you. My first appointment is in April.

Thank you. My first appointment is in April.

Hi! Was you April’s appointment by phone or in person?

Just an update from my message in Aug 2024. After 12 months in the waiting list I have now an in person appointment in May, but it is the initial appt, so haven’t had any phone appt before.

Based on some responses initial appt was by phone so I’m a bit confused, but might be the process has changed. Any ideas on how long the wait until the transfer is since the first in-person appt?

Thank you! xxx

@BHX My original initial appointment was due to be face to face but it got cancelled and I got a telephone appointment a couple of weeks later instead. I did actually ask if there was a difference and they said no.

My first appointment went well. They said it will take 2-3 months until the treatment. I think it can be longer if you haven’t already had the blood tests, internal scan etc but my doctor was quite good and did all of that as part of the referral.