Croydon fertility treatment centre

[Jem01]

Hi, has anyone had fertility treatment here? What was their experience and success rates? Asking on behalf of a friend who is currently having treatment there for underlining gynaecology issues (fibroids/endometriosis) and she’s been referred here. She’ll be going down the route of donor sperm and possibly donor egg too because of her age (44).

Any feedback from people who have had treatment there would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Jem01, I was referred to croydon hospital fertility centre dr shuba, last year but after ivf appointment. Whilst she was lovely and cost wise vs private was better II felt their hours weren’t great for me work wise so decided to go private instead. Plus not as tailored service.

Plus it took dr a number of monitoring scans to realise I had endometriosis-by which point we had already spent £1k on an IUI at private Harley street Fertility clinic where she also consults. It did feel like we wasted £1k on that when really had endometriomas been spotted we wouldn’t of bothered with iui.

I still remember during my scans at private clinic the consultant there asked me “do you have endometriosis?” And I said I didn’t think so as dr shuba didn’t flag anything! Then fast fwd couple months she then suspected I had endo.

@Jem01 Croydon is my borough so I'm doing a few rounds of Clomid there at the moment (on the NHS, not privately) and Dr Shuba is also my doctor. It's been hit & miss to be honest. I'm always rushed in and rushed out without much talking about what's going on, but on the other hand she's been great at getting me an operation to remove an endometrial cyst, getting me on the clomid quickly and giving me lots and lots of scans and other medication to help me. She is very confident and seems quite experienced. It's all moved very quickly thanks to her.
On the negative side, every time I see her (weekly at the moment) she forgets who I am and doesn't seem to read the file, so I have to remind her I'm on clomid etc. I think it's because she's just so busy, but I don't always feel that confident that she has all the details.
I had a terrible experience with Mr Olufasa there (a consultant) and sadly had to make a complaint when he shouted at me for not having sex enough...
I don't know if it is different on the private side of things. They have a separate portacabin for that and when I popped in once there were a lot of thank you cards on the wall, all of which were really heart warming.
If I need IVF then I'll have to go private, but I won't go with Croydon just because I've had a bumpy ride with them. I'm going to travel to Nuffield Woking instead - if that's anywhere near your friend.

Hello everyone, thank you for the feedback so far- will share all with her.

Hi @Sylva1231 I am also currently being seen at Croydon where i have been diagnosed with endometriosis and completed one round of failed IVF. I feel exactly the same as you, everyone is very nice, things seem to happen quite quickly and i am grateful to be having funded treatment however the Dr never checks the notes and always asks why I am there and if i have endometriosis?! Even before my latest surgery she started filling out the consent saying i was having a diagnostic laparoscopy which i had already had. Which obviously didn't fill me with much confidence. We are going ahead with a 2nd round there because that's where we were referred and i do feel she is very experienced and knows what they are doing but perhaps they just dont have a lot of time to spend checking notes and explaining things to patients.

@lola198 Oh my goodness it is so nice hearing that someone else is there too. Wishing you all the best with it.
I had nightmares with my consent form before my endo laparoscopy & cyst removal. I had no idea what the operation was or what the risks were - she just said "you have endometriosis and a cyst and we need to take it out", then gave me this yellow form with nothing on it and told me to sign it and bring it with me on the day of the surgery. On the day I was really anxious and the surgeon said that I should have been given more info re: the risks and shoudn't have been given the form to take home! I got most of my info off of here to be honest!

I was so grateful that she rushed the operation through so quickly (I only had to wait a week or so) but it was all a bit light on detail. The op did go really, really well to be fair to them. And I have been given lots of scans and medication and treatment and I never have to wait for anything, it's just quite poor communication.

I hope yours goes well!

oh no! that's not very good, yeah i think poor communication is definitely an issue with them but yeah everything has happened pretty quickly for me also. My first surgery was cancelled the day before because the surgeon looked at my notes and decided he wanted an up to date scan before doing the surgery which had been booked for over a month! meaning i had to wait another month and i had taken time off for the surgery and recovery which was wasted.
Anyway its good to have a moan with someone who is experiencing similar things with them.
Thank you! I wish you all the best too!!

Hello and good luck with all your treatments. I've had a lot of tests in nearly a year to investigate my infertility. I find Croydon gynae quite disorganised. Ive received appointment letters for dates in the past, I've turned up to booked appointments and the staff are baffled, and often remind Dr's of my situation, even after a week and seeing the same Dr (and you'd think they'd quickly scan notes before appointments?) I think they're really stretched and try their best. The infertility journey is so emotional and the Dr's just don't have the time to offer emotional support. My appointments are always short and rushed which leaves me researching or visiting my Gp for further explanation. I agree that Dr Ofasia's bedside manner is not great, but he is a surgeon and specialist in endo so think his skill lies here. I had a laparoscopy at Croydon to remove endometriosis. The surgery was 5 months from referral as there seemed to be some internal misunderstanding but I had the surgery and whether its helped my fertility remains to be seen 🤞🤞🤞

@Mary2020 yes that sounds so similar to my experience. I've also had the same op as you! I've been in the system two and a quarter years now and I have to say that things have improved from when I was first going. Dr Shuba sees me really frequently for scans now and I have a different consultant now who is nice. It's still always a rush and I still get most of my info on here tbh!
I found out that Dr Shuba is the only person in the whole hospital for us fertility patients, so no wonder she's always rushed off her feet and forgets who we are and what we're there for. I'm grateful for her though because she had been amazing to me that last few months. I can see that she cares, she's just overwhelmed with work I'd imagine. I've also had letters in the post for appointments in the past! It's such a shame isn't it - makes me sad how they've been hit with all the cuts. Ive got my final appt with the consultant this week and am then going private for IVF :-(
I hope your treatment works for you and that you get a good outcome 🤞

Thanks for your reply @sylva123 I wish you all the best with IVF. May I ask where you've decided to go and why did you choose there? I'm visiting Create this week as they're meant to be good for endometriosis and low egg count, which is what I have. I hope it all goes well for you and wish you all the success and comfort throughout your treatment :)

Ive decided to go to Nuffield in Woking - they've got a good success rate and we're thinking of moving to Surrey, so it would be closer. I don't like the idea of battling through central London to get to all the appts & I think I'd feel calmer jumping in the car. Croydon is convenient, but I'd feel more comfortable at Nuffield I think. Let me know what Create are like!

Just wanted to update in case useful - after all that I'm going to stick with Croydon for IVF. It seems that their success rate is 44% whereas wokings is 38%. I was really surprised to read that. Also the ease that they already have all my records. I really hope it's the right choice.... Feel so sick about it. Such a giant decision.

hi all i new to mums net,
i was looking at reviews for IVF at croydon hospital. Sylva123 you mentioned you have decided to go for croydon hospital. how did it go? im currently there for cycle monitoring with clomid and though i love Dr Shuba i wasn't sure about the doing IVF there.

the other clinic i was considering create in st pauls or wimbledon, Mary2020 how did it go on you visit? i also have low AMH and understand they specialise in that.

hope it goes well for you guys.

Hi @aim2912 I still haven't started IVF there! Dr Shuba has hope for me that Letrozole will work (it's similar to clomid) so we're doing one more month of that before IVF. What I will say is that I'm really pleasantly surprised by their success rates - they seem to be above national average.
They're not very responsive on phone or email but it's because they're not a dedicated IVF centre, they're a hospital that also does IVF so I think the experience you get reflects that and it can mean a lot of chasing. I don't love it there, but for me it's an easier option than restarting the whole process, tests etc, somewhere else. I'll let you know how it goes when I start. I do have a lot of trust in Dr Shuba though and she's been amazing even though you can see they're under a lot of pressure. Sending you lots of luck xx

Hi @aim2912 I liked Create. I paid for an initial consultation which was £285 for 1 hour and I found it really useful. If you can attend one of their webinars you get a discount (£385 otherwise). I had a scan to look at the health of my uterus & follicles, talk through medical history and a plan of action. What I really valued, was someone really taking the time to listen and talk about my options and that was really worth paying for. It was the first time on my fertility journey that I felt like someone actually cared and wasn't rushing to get the next patient through the door. I've been taking Co Enzyme 10 daily as that's meant to help with egg count/AMH but 600mg is recommended and I can only find 200mg in the shops which I'm taking and I'm eating more healthily (cut out gluten and minimised dairy) as that's supposed to help with my endometriosis.
I wish you the very best on your journey and hope you get all the support you need ;)

Thank you @Sylva123 @Mary2020 for your responses. Yes I was thinking if having a consultantation, will have to wait no till all this covid-19 virus has calmed down. I assume all non urgent treatment will be stopped.

I didn't ovulate with clomid this month, so will have to try next month with a higher dose.
Wishing you both success on this very long and emotional rollercoaster of trying to a baby!!! All the best. X

Hi @aim2912 are you going ahead with clomid this month? I am wondering whether to take my letrozole today or not as so many people are having things cancelled. It's my last chance before IVF... And then like you say I think we'll be waiting a long time for IVF

Sorry @Mary2020 I forgot to ask have you gear of DHEA it suppose to help low amh but I was scared to try it. In case it had other effect.

I'm on co10 along with vit d, folic acid and pregnacare conception. I've reduced gulten but gave not gone 100% glutun free until this week. All then best.

Hello ;)
I was told today beds and ventilators are now needed for COVID-19 so will be looking at starting Ivf a few months later.
I have heard of DHEA but haven't had professional advice for it. I've read about various side effects so haven't taken it. I'm taking Co enzyme 10 and pregnacare conception too.
Good luck ladies! We will get there x

@Sylva123 sorry I missed your message, the Croydon gyne dept told me call before i take the next set of tablets and they will advise if they can offer monitoring this month. They said they will still run if they have enough staff. So hopefully you should be able to take it.
Thanks

is their fertility unit back open?

I have no idea - I've tried calling to see if I can get on the waiting list for when they re open but no one is picking up the phone or answering emails. I wonder if they're redeployed to other parts of the hospital?

I called just before the lockdown, I was advised to call back in May, but I have been anxious as the virus is still here and although the deathrate is declining its not safe, i feel stuck not sure that the protocol is! I will try calling the unit see if its open, I just feel apprehensive starting and if you get pregnant great :D but its a risk right? :S If they are closed then I guess its best to wait

I assume they are or are in the process to re-open as they have to put health safety measures And social distancing in place Before anything

Hi
I’m waiting for the clinic to re open again. I was told I would hear back at the end of May, But I havet heard anything back.
I did ring the clinic last week and the receptionist said she doesn’t have a clue when the fertility side of things will be open.