If and when to do private testing?

[PinkPombear1]

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone can share their experiences of private testing when trying to conceive / during pregnancy after miscarrying?

I've experienced 2 first trimester miscarriages and wondering whether it's worth going to a clinic to get any testing done prior to getting pregnant again or wait until positive test to seek any advice. I understand the NHS can't help after just 2 (and even then the wait list is really long for a referral?) so I'm wondering if it's worth splashing out on private services.

I see a lot of clinics talk about IVF and similar but not so much of early pregnancy care and it's the risk of miscarriage that worries me. I've heard about women being prescribed baby aspirin and progesterone etc. but I'm unsure of how this comes about - is it typically prescribed by private clinics and are women having consultations before getting pregnant or at the early stages of pregnancy?

Any advice or sharing of experiences would be really insightful as I'm finding it all very confusing!

Thank you

It is really confusing! I had two first trimester miscarriages and one chemical pregnancy last year, waited 9 months to get to the recurrent miscarriage clinic on the NHS and eventually was seen in clinic. They did the standard tests and found nothing wrong so the plan was that when I next forgot pregnant, I would take progesterone as soon as I had BFP, and a 6 week reassurance scan.

Because we then struggled to conceive (tried for another 6 months) we decided to investigate for private IVF and had a fertility assessment which found abnormal sperm morphology - the doctor felt this was likely the cause of the miscarriages and may need IVF with ICSI. We do have one son so are able to conceive naturally and carry to term. While we were waiting for results, discovered we are pregnant and started on progesterone, currently 5 weeks along.

I think the nhs investigations for recurrent miscarriage are not very thorough, and although the consultation was empathetic and supportive, they did not offer any fertility assistance or male testing etc. Also the fertility specialist did say that aspirin has gone out of fashion if you don’t have a clotting disorder and caution on taking as it can interfere with implantation.

In hindsight we should have gone down the private route sooner because I also miscarried in 2019. Having an explanation for the losses makes it easier to find a solution…and if we miscarry again we will be going forward with IVF

@sannax Thank you so much for your reply and wishing you all the best on your pregnancy!

That's really interesting to know that the NHS test was quite limited. I always assumed it wouldn't be worth doing any fertility tests or similar as I got pregnant twice so quickly, but that's super interesting that it could discover something that might be linked to the cause of miscarriages like in your experience.

That's useful to know about the aspirin too, thank you! I see these success stories about these prescriptions fly about and I cling onto the idea that they might help me out too!

If you don't mind sharing, was the private fertility testing fairly costly compared to the consultation fees? I see consult fees of around £150-300 and follow-ups a bit lower but then also fertility IVF packages in the thousands. I suppose it really varies doesn't it with individual needs - think I'll see if I can have a quick chat with a clinic to get an idea of how it might pan out!

We paid 495 for the basic couples fertility Mot which included a transvaginal ultrasound and bloods for me, and a sperm analysis on my partner. Plus we had a one hour zoom consultation with a fertility consultant who explained everything in a PowerPoint. They wanted to do further sperm analysis for dna fragmentation (for extra money) but we had a positive test so left it.

It is more expensive than just having the some sperm testing done separately and an ultrasound/ bloods for me but we wanted IVF with that particular clinic so had to pay.

I think it is worth being referred and investigated by the NHS because things like a progesterone prescription work out cheaper. Also if you are under the care of the recurrent miscarriage clinic, our local EPAU looks after you pretty well, e.g quick to offer reassurance scans etc.

@sannax That's super useful to know, thank you - I'll have to have a proper look to find something similar near me as it seems like a good starting point and fairly straightforward for me to understand what's involved! I can imagine it was also probably more convenient with the IVF clinic as they were able to advise further re. IVF next steps too.

I haven't actually contacted the NHS yet since I don't think they'd be able to do anything at this stage but might give the GP/EPAU a quick call as like you say, the EPAU were pretty on it my second time around so might have some useful info for going into it a third time round (fingers crossed!)

Thanks so much again 🙂