IVF St Helier/Epsom

[Makino]

Hi all, I am struggling to find any reviews for IVF treatment at St Helier hospital.

We have funding approved for our first cycle but just wanted to know if their were any success stories.

They have said we only get 1 round of IVF followed by 1 FET when NICE recommend 3 rounds.

I really hope someone can share their experiences with me.

xxx

@Persephone12 it’s seriously so stressful i work in a school as a senior administrator and it’s stressful enough with this whole thing

She has posted out my blood test paper thingy and said its 1st class so hopefully i should get it tomorrow or Saturday and get the blood test on Monday and once that comes back they will send me all the paper and then she said its could be upto 6 week as the turn around is quite quick

I am glad i am on this thread thanks

@Freya2015 I can completely sympathise as I’m an Officer and working from home has been a lot more demanding in this period so trying to balance that with chasing up the Hospital was seriously causing a lot of stress. I even emailed them and told them the non-answers and delays were causing stress but that didn’t seem to make the difference! That was the point I’d had enough.

I’m sure the secretary will post the papers when she said, it’s this 6 week turnaround you need to keep an eye on. Be persistent if you don’t hear anything. I know it’s frustrating and takes up energy but I keep my fingers crossed for you that continuously nudging them and asking questions will make the difference.

I’m grateful for this post too. It really helped me with a lot of my decision making. You’re not alone. Keep us posted on how it goes.

X

@Persephone12 I know if I didnt keep calling I would have never known what the hold up was and it’s frustrating that they dont care

I am finding it so difficult to wait
I desperately want a baby 😢 my husband semen results showed severe abnormality and she said nothing will help

@Freya2015 ☹️ I’m sorry for your frustrations. I feel exactly the same, the waiting is so tough! We’ve been trying for pretty much for 3 years!
Finally we found out there is no explanation as to why we can’t conceive (it’s not me, it’s not my husbands sperm) which some people might see as a comfort, but in actual fact I find it even more frustrating that we have no reason?

We are also starting treatment soon (as I may have said previously) but we went private so we will be doing it this year, in the next month.

Can I advise that you just start looking into the private options at the side, casually? If it becomes overwhelming stop, but don’t stop yourself permanently, out of fear. My biggest regret is that I didn’t look into private options sooner. People had mentioned it in passing but I thought ‘well I’ve got my NHS pass first’ not even thinking how rubbish their care could be...Until I actually experienced it.

One time when I talked to the consultants secretary at St Heliers and expressed my desire to get it done on this side of 2020, she said ‘are you going private?’ So it’s almost like she was telling me that’s the only way it might happen?

On a positive, I know someone who recently welcomed her baby boy into this world. Her husband had sperm issues and she had tried 3 rounds of IVF. On her 3rd time she finally (and after over a decade of trying) got lucky.

So don’t listen to them. They can apply a generic rule of ‘nothing will help’ but if you keep faith and keep looking out there at options it can be possible. Don’t give up 🤞🏻

X

Just an update so i had my blood slip delivered on Thursday and then on Friday I went to st heliers for my blood test and told the lady what had happened bless her she put it through as urgent
I phoned the Assisted conception unit on Friday to tell them. I had it done and the lady said call back Tuesday and then hopefully we will have your AMH results and then they will send me paper work out and said the turn around is 6 weeks

Fingers crossed October/November is the month cx baby dust to everyone on here

@Freya2015 that’s wonderful news.

Yes good luck to everyone. I too am hoping that October/November will be the month for all of us! 🤞🏻

X

🚨RANT ALERT🚨

I Called st heliers to ask about my results and the receptionist goes it can take upto 4 weeks

1 person is telling me a couple of days
Another is saying 2 weeks

I feel like just running away from all of this i am soo upset and stressed now

Hey @Freya2015 I’m sorry you’re feeling like this! I know this feeling all too well!
If possible stick to speaking with one unit first (the consultant and her secretary) wait for the all clear on their end, before seeking advice directly from another team or the ACU.

I also by chance spoke to them- ACU (put through by someone else, on the off chance, as there’s never direct telephone numbers for anyone at this ridiculous hospital!) and the person I spoke to was much nicer and reassuring. (She confirmed I wasn’t on their list yet)...

But my best advice to you is speak to one team first, and go with what they say before building your hopes up with another. And I know this is really hard, but try and park it aside for now as you can’t do much but wait till the recommended time is over before chasing it up.

Easier said then done (I know) but try not to get stressed. And my biggest tip (still) is start looking into private options (just in case! It eliminated all the stress and worry once I knew there were other better options out there)

X

Update:

so my AMH results came through yesterday, I got my husband to pick up the forms from them and we returned them this morning back to the ACU.(they were quite suprised) Hopefully it wont be long till we can start.

Hi Update

We signed our eligibility forms and returned them on Tuesday the 20th how long do we have to wait for an appointment with consultant and then how long after that with nurse?

Hi
I hope everyone is doing well.

We got a call yesterday to say we are eligible for NHS Funding they have given me my first phone call consultation with my consultant on Monday 9th November (tbh I am surprised they had an appt that quick)

Hopefully this is it

I received all the paper work via email for my nurses appt that i need to print off and fill in but not sign.

how long does it usually take after first consultation ?

xx

Hi ladies

Hope you are all well?

@Tulip20 and @Makino- I just wanted to say THANK YOU both for your amazing advice and support in this post.

From this post, as I mentioned before I abandoned our application with St Heliers Hospital (as previously documented and well ranted about! 😀)

And a month later we decided to use the amazing Reprofit clinic, I’m now pregnant!!!

So doing the Maths...that was 11 months of waiting for nothing with St Heliers Hospital as opposed to applying to going private and completing treatment and getting pregnant within the space of just under 3 months!!!

Ladies, the more I speak to others the more I learn. The NHS is no friend to us in this position. Assisted Conception is simply not a priority. It’s not like having cancer or we're dying where the NHS will go out of their way to help. CCGs are cutting funding and allocating less money to women like us. And treatment at St Heliers Hospital ACU is p**s poor, we’re definitely not anyone special at that place either!

My advice, if you want to get pregnant sooner, save your money, save your sanity and go private! You will get the best treatment doing so. They use better methods as standard (such as ICSI) for no extra cost, they’ll employ the best methods to make sure all your embryos grow and put the best one back in there, and if you’re lucky enough to have others left over you can freeze them and have other opportunities in the future (more than one). It’s not like the CCG NHS lottery you pay and you get results.

I’m saying this as bluntly as possible because if anyone was in my position reading this and wants to know if it’s worth sticking out their St Heliers application or getting out their and going private, I want them to know, 100% there are MUCH better alternatives out there. It just means paying but when you see that double strip on that pregnancy test it’s worth every single penny. Just thinking I’ll never ever have months of headaches calling up and emailing that secretary also makes it worth every penny!

Good luck ladies. I hope some of you have had some good news recently too!

All the best x

Hi @Persephone12

That is wonderful news! Congratulations! I am so happy Reprofit was successful for you too! I really do believe it is the way to go.

We would not hesitate to use again and are currently hoping to return next year to try for another baby using one of our frozen embryos!

Wishing you a smooth and healthy pregnancy :)

@Makino I hope things are well with you too.

x

@Tulip20 thank you so much!! ☺️ It’s because of your testimony (along with a few others) that I went to them in the first place...so a big special thank you to you! 🤗

That’s wonderful news about next year, I would definitely use them again too!
Good luck and thank you for your best wishes!

@Makino I hope things have progressed nicely with the clinic in Wimbledon.

All the best ladies

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@Persephone12 That is the best news!!! I never knew this thread was active until you tagged me in. My heart is filled with joy x

@Tulip20 stay calm, look after yourself and be positive. Keep us posted if you can x

So girlies I have some news.......I'm 25 weeks pregnant due at the end of Feb!! The reality that this is actually happening after all these years of MC's has still not sunk in. I actually didnt post anything, didnt tell family/friends until 20 weeks in case something went wrong.

Barclays 24 month interest free credit card paid for our treatment and since we fell pregnant we have nearly paid it off :-)

Also got 4 eggs frozen which proves how terrible ACU at St Helier are.

Everyone knows the odds with IVF but going privately has made all the difference. I've seen both sides of the coin and its not worth the emotional nightmare.

Lu x

@Makino that’s amazing! Congratulations!! 🎉 I’m so happy for you!!

I am still very early days so I completely understand about your reluctance to shout it out to the world (even though I’m sure there were many times you wanted to!) Well done and also the best investment ever!! 😉

You gave me the best advice... to take my one shot and go private...it really paid off! Thank you ☺️

Along with this little bun, we also have 8 frozen embryos waiting for us for when we need/want them too! 😊

I don’t imagine we’d even have got one with St Heliers Hospital...

Who knows maybe one day someone might read this post and tell us the complete opposite! I await that day!

Anyway I wish you a happy healthy rest of your pregnancy
😌

X

@Makino @Persephone12 opps we are going with st Heliers and have our nurses appt on Tuesday i am abit scared now

@Freya2015 if you read the whole of this post, results for this hospital are not the best. As I told you before I wouldn’t recommend (and glad I took my chances elsewhere..) but there has been one person who did have success and maybe you’ll be a further exception?
Good luck!

@Freya2015 Not sure how blunt I can be but given i'm pregnant I can be excused for being so.

If you offered me free IVF treatment at St Helier I wouldnt take it. It took me months to get myself back into shape and mentally recover.

I've highlighted all the failings to give people an informed choice. I'm not doing this out of spite or any animosity. There was no independant review and in a desperate attempt created this thread as I felt completely alone!

The 3 nurses are lovely, 2 in particular were there majority of the time I cannot fault. We never had any communication from a doctor during any time including the scans. The only time was on the day of retrieval before the op and egg transfer day.

I was naive and stupid but I wouldn't want anyone else to go through this its simply not worth the toll on the body. IVF is a head f*, it screws with your emotions, makes you fat, hate yourself and when it fails you blame yourself even more.

Lu x

@Makino thank you for your last post and summarising (again) just how bad it was/is.

I feel like women out there should know and read this, as there is no where else to say just how awful that ACU and hospital is.

I feel like I was the lucky one as I found this post (that you created) when I was half way through my St Heliers Hospital application and knew (from the delays and treatment) something felt off...I researched and researched and this is the post I found warning me...

It was also speaking to the lead consultant of the ACU and her manner that confirmed it was a no for me (plus reading all of this) but I’m sorry that you had to go through it, to even be able to say this.

I am horrified that you never even spoke to the doctor, but I cannot say with their standards I am in anyway surprised. 😞

I echo your sentiments 100% Makino. IVF is really hard. It may be one of the hardest things a woman might have to go through. It has to be completed in a caring environment where support, care and professionalism is there from the get go. In my 11 months of being a patient there I didn’t see any of that.

Under any circumstances (i.e quicker or sooner referral) would I have accepted free IVF at St Heliers Hospital? The answer is no

Would I tell others it’s a good place to have IVF treatment? No

Do I believe they are competent and do absolutely everything in their power to help women and their developing embryos? Again the answer is no.

@Makino thank you being so blunt, I can only wait and see at the moment we cant afford to pay for private ivf. i have my appt on tuesday and I will keep you all updated on how things went l. So far the nurses and doctors have been really nice

@Freya2015 I am glad your experience has been better (since) as your post on 5/10/2020 sounded all too familiar and STRESSFUL...something that doesn’t help when you’re going through IVF!
Good luck 🤞🏻

@Freya2015 good luck, I really hope things work out for you!

@Persephone12 I should state I only saw the doctors before they referred me for IVF and never during the treatment itself. I may have taken one for the team however if this thread helped one person and that person was you what I went through was worth it!!

Lu x

@Persephone12 @Makino the stressful moment was with the fertility clinic the ivf clinic has tbh been good I just hope everything turns out to be good

@Makino here here! 💪🏻 And yes, you did help me (sooo much!) I am so grateful to be pregnant now, and I honestly believe I wouldn’t have even got close to coming to that stage, if it wasn’t for you and some of the others in this thread! 🤗 You are right support and information is so limited out there.
By the way, even if you did speak to the doctor before the referral; to not have any direct communication whilst you were going through the procedure is still pretty diabolical in my opinion. The doctors that did my egg retrieval and transfer sat me and my husband down, explained everything, (including explaining where our remaining embryos were at) before we did anything else and asked us if we had questions. That’s the way it should be... however doing more research I know now that the NHS and CCG are making cuts to areas such as assisted conception, so perhaps ‘reassuring the patient’ and ‘explaining things’ simply aren’t priority for an under cut service?

@Freya2015 I also wish you well and want you to come back and say that you are the exception, and it was a good experience for you and I hope you have good news to share on this one day as well.

Best of luck ladies!

X