IVF/ICSI pregnancies

[Mapleleaf90]

Hi all, I was wondering how care/guidance for IVF/ICSI pregnancies differs around the UK. I’m currently in my second trimester after ICSI and live in a very rural area. I’ve been referred for consultant-led care but other than that (not really sure what that even means!) I think all guidance for me is the same as normal pregnancies where I live. I’m also a bit worried as this is baby number 1 and I’m over 30. We had our first “consultant” appointment recently and it ended up making me even more anxious. I think he was a junior doctor, and was absolutely awful. When going through my medical history he’d never even heard of a nerve root block….! I had a hastily left voicemail about an hour after my appointment saying I’d receive a call from an anaesthetist, which also reinforced my worry that he’s a bit clueless (also no explanation as to why)! A bit worried that my area may be a bit behind the times regarding IVF/ICSI. For example there’s no fertility unit so I had to be referred to a different county for my fertility treatment. When querying my county’s approach to IVF (as weirdly the rules differed from where I was treated), I was informed they basically follow Worcester and Shrewsbury (obvs not great with their maternity scandal!!!). Really interested to hear from others as I don’t know anyone else who’s had an IVF/ICSI baby. Thanks!

Hi @Mapleleaf90 congratulations on your pregnancy!

i am 5+2 following ivf & ICSI. I have a scan through my fertility clinic at 6+6 and if all is well I will be discharged to my GP and community midwife which from what I understand is standard practise.

im sorry you’ve had a bad experience with that consultant

In NHS GGC Scotland, any fertility care involvement in getting pregnant means you get two consultant appts added to the standard midwife ones. Then anything on top of that would be based on risk factors for your specific pregnancy

Once your fertility clinic discharges you, you are treated like every other pregnant woman. Your journey to get pregnant is treated as irrelevant and you are just dealt with as normal by the midwives and your gp. I had an ICSI baby, she is now 9. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

Hi there huge congratulations on your pregnancy. You must be so thrilled xx
I had a little boy 9 months ago conceived via IVF/ICSI with PGT-A testing (genetic screening) and a whole host of add on meds (steroids, immune suppressants etc)... aside from a viability scan with our IVF doctor (think this was when I was 4-6 pregnant) to check for a heart beat etc after that it was all community midwife care. Despite being 39 with a high BMI (thanks steroids!!) I was treated as low risk. Was given a gestational diabetes test but that was nothing to do with IVF it was due to BMI/age. Midwife said once pregnant the midwives treat you like any other woman. However, because we chose to give birth at a hospital in Lancashire there policy for IVF pregnancies was to induce labour if go over due date. Reasoning was concern placenta may run out of steam if left too long. Yet a neighbouring trust doesn't have this policy. That's the only thing I've heard off whereby an IVF pregnancy is treated differently xx wishing you all the best. Hopefully you get to speak to a DR who is a bit more reassuring and knowledgeable xx

Not in the UK so another perspective. My pregnancy was treated like any other and I didn’t have any additional checks after graduating from the fertility clinic. All my appts were then done by my gynaecologist (standard here) and I did ask her if I was high risk. She said ivf alone was not a high risk pregnancy, if you combine it with other health issues or age then it may be taken into account. In fact I am now pregnant after conceiving naturally at 39 and she has mentioned how it would be better to deliver at a certain hospital due to my age whereas she was happy for me to go anywhere with my ivf pregnancy.

I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant, conceived via IVF.
I've had a textbook pregnancy but I am still under consultant led care and labelled as "high risk".

I've had additional scans at 28 weeks, 31, 36 weeks and hopefully the last one is next week at 38 weeks. My consultant is keen on induction. I couldn't tell you why (no increased BMI or other risk factors)

This is in contrast to what my midwife told me to expect at my booking appointment, which is that the pregnancy would be treated as any other. My midwife is at the local GP surgery and I see the consultant at the hospital. Their policies seem to differ. Things seem to vary massively according to where you are in the country and what trust you're under.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the responses! The midwives/nurses I’ve seen so far have been brilliant. Hopefully I’ll get to see a more experienced doctor at the 28wk appointment. Everyday I still feel so lucky to have made it this far, so just wanted to check how others got on.

@Mapleleaf90 I'm 17 weeks pregnant after my 4th ivf cycle. I am 40 and this is my first pregnancy. So apparently consultant led due to the ivf but that just gave me a consultant appointment at 16 weeks and one at 28 weeks. The only difference with ivf is you can't go past your due date and the ivf will add in when they calculate your risk factor.
My 16 week consultant appointment was pretty useless, I don't think I gained much from it apart from they took me off the blood thinning injections that they put me on at 12w4d, after telling me I could stop them with my ivf meds at 12 weeks exactly! All very confusing!
The main thing is your risk factor which the midwife will reassess at every appointment I think

IVF/ICSI isn’t a reason for consultant led care in most trusts. What led to you needing IVF/ICSI (age/medical conditions) might mean you need consultant led care but an IVF baby (assuming own eggs) is usually be treated as a normal pregnancy.

I have an ICSI baby so I know how scary it may seem to be on the “normal” maternity pathway. Congratulations on your pregnancy and I hope the remainder goes very smoothly!