IVF at Bourn Hall

[Livi0608]

Hi everyone, new on here but I was wondering if anyone has experience with Bourn Hall for IVF? How did you find it and what was your timeline like?

We’re private and had our initial ivf consultation at the Wickford branch

I just made an account so I could say hi! I'm at Wickford too, going private as well through Access Fertility. We had our initial consultation for IVF in January (after a couple of failed IUIs last year) and then I had the egg collection beginning of April. I was on the long protocol (so started down regulation end of February I think) and had to have a few extra tests in that time too (thyroid and virology). Only just now gearing up for hopefully my first frozen transfer though due to having to have a freeze all cycle and get a polyp removed that the stims caused.

I can say all the nurses and doctors have been really nice, I'm super shy so going through something like this has been a struggle but they always put me at my ease. They're pretty quick at replying to any questions over email too and sorting out all the drugs was really easy as they can do it all for you through another company who you just tell them when you want it delivered.

The only negative I would say is they only use a light sedation for the egg collection which I was told would feel like "being drunk but without the fun". I don't know if I just didn't respond to it or not but I found it did nothing and the retrieval was quite painful. I did end up with quite a few eggs though and it wasn't so bad that I'd never do it again if I have to.

Good luck and feel free to ask if you have any questions :)

I’m so happy to find someone else at Bourn hall Wickford, I’ve been looking for a long time! I’m also signed up to access fertility, on the 3 cycle 50% refund. I wanted the 100% refund but they rejected me due to high AMH. I like that freeze all packages are included at Wickford too. which package are you on?

im on short protocol because of my PCOS, but I’m going on holiday first so won’t be starting stims until October.

I’ve also found the nurses and doctors to be really friendly. I was a bit concerned about communication because of some reviews, but like you say, they’re super responsive and my questions via email or phone are answered straight away. Makes me feel so at ease.

the frozen transfer sounds exciting. I’m so impatient, it must’ve been challenging waiting for your body to be ready for it!

Yes I think with Wickford being such a small clinic I didn't expect to find anyone else here either. We're on the 3 cycle 70% refund program. It does give alot of piece of mind knowing all the transfers are covered and we can have another 2 egg collections if needed. We actually paid for IVF then had to have a last minute on the day conversion to ICSI. Keep expecting a large bill due to the change but nothing yet so I'm keeping quiet!

I think the waiting and not knowing has been the hardest part for me. (I was very lucky and had no side effects from the drugs at all.) I like to plan things and with this it does feel like your life gets put on hold a bit. It's good you're managing to get on holiday before it starts. We're hoping now we're at the transfer stage and were told you have to have 2 bleeds in between transfers if it doesn't work we'll be able to fit a holiday in between too.

I hope I don’t get bad drug side effects, the nurse gave really helpful tips about protein and drinking water to prevent OHSS.

2 bleeds seems long, but I guess your body needs to be ready again to do it. Do you know if you still need 2 bleeds between freeze all egg retrieval and first transfer?

Yeah I think that's what they told me. I was at risk of ohss so would have had to have a freeze all even without the polyp which they told me at my 2nd scan. It's to let your hormones return to normal. Only ended up with minor bloating though but they said it could get worse if you got pregnant. They didn't tell me about drinking water and eating protein until I had my first scan which was a bit late then! I have found they can be a bit lacking with information sometimes.

Hi @Livi0608 and @Kelvie103 do you mind me asking how you got on at this clinic? I am looking at it. Thanks

Hi @lemons44 I'm currently 8 weeks pregnant after my 2nd frozen transfer so I guess they must have done something right! To be honest we just chose them as they're an easy drive away. I didn't want to have to be dealing with a long journey every other day for scans.

I will say that the information they give you is a bit hit and miss. I wasn't told the grading of any of my embryos at my first transfer so assumed they didn't do it. Then at the 2nd transfer they told me and seemed surprised I didn't know. Have also had a few issues around being told different timings of things like what cycle day I could have a procedure on and whether I had to wait 2 or 3 months between transfers. Apart from that we were pretty pleased with everything. All the nurses were really nice and easy to talk to and I felt like an actual person rather than a box to check. They also do natural frozen transfers which some clinics don't which was what I went for.

@lemons44 i actually got pregnant naturally just before starting ivf drugs.

But before that, I had a random period that would’ve messed up the planning dates and the nurse gave us good options to do egg collection at one of the other clinics to make sure we could do it that month. they were so understanding and supportive.

One thing though, I was booked in to do blood test and a scan straight after and had to wait 2 hours after my blood test before I got my scan, that was quite disorganised of them, as my father in law was driving us and had to wait in the car for the whole time.

Hey, I’m thinking about booking an appointment at the wickford clinic for infertility as well. Can I ask about your experience so far? Quite nervous about it all!

Realised I forgot to reply!

Thank you so much @Kelvie103 and @Livi0608 ! So glad you both got your BFPs 💗💗 hope you're both doing well.

@HeatherF21 I've just started using them (due to start my first IVF cycle on Monday) and so far I am very happy. They all seem really nice and I liked our doctor. We moved from a different clinic who were RUBBISH, so this is a massive improvement!