Scheduling appointment
This is a face-to-face appointment with a member of our nursing team. If you are seeking treatment as a couple both partners must attend this appointment. If you are a single woman seeking treatment, you might find it helpful to have a friend or family member attend the appointment with you.
The nursing team will answer any further queries that you have and make sure you are ready to commence your treatment cycle. If you are happy to proceed to treatment, we will then help you to choose your dates for starting treatment. While we will do our best to accommodate your preference for a specific treatment date it is not always possible.
You will be given a treatment plan listing the medication regime, scan and procedure dates for you to refer to throughout your treatment. The fertility nurse will teach you how to do the injections and you will have a go at practicing this yourself.
During this session, we will provide you with an equipment pack. This includes all the needles, syringes and other equipment that you need for the fertility injections and a sharps disposal bin for your used needles.
Social media
Social media is a big part of modern life, and we understand that you might want to share your fertility treatment story. We know that some of you feel this gives you a network of support and that it can help lessen the stigma you feel surrounding fertility treatment.
We respect your choice to do this but ask that you respect the privacy of our staff and most importantly the privacy of other patients. This means that we would prefer that you do not photograph or record the staff (either in picture or sound) delivering care or speaking with you on the telephone.
If you do decide to record yourself attending the clinic, this should only be done when staff are not present and when you are in an enclosed room so that there is no risk of accidentally videoing other patients. We appreciate that your fertility journey is personal to you and any recordings must remain the same.
Tests
You will have had several tests done before treatment.
Find out more information about testsScreening for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
This test is done for everyone pre-treatment. These viral infections have implications for individuals’ health and wellbeing as well as those of any child who can be infected during pregnancy and childbirth. It is therefore valuable to be screened prior to planned fertility treatment so that if necessary appropriate management can be planned. A positive result does not prevent you from undergoing fertility treatment but further assessment and or treatment is likely to be necessary before proceeding.
We are required to screen for these viral infections prior to storing embryos, sperm or eggs. We are currently unable to store embryos, sperm or eggs for couples where one or both partners test positive. The screening tests for these infections will occasionally result in an equivocal or false positive result. A diagnosis of infection is not made until a formal diagnostic test confirms it.
Viral infection screening must be completed every two years while you are undergoing treatment.
You may require further blood tests for assessment of any fertility or medical problems prior to treatment. These tests will be explained to you, as they are undertaken.
Preparation for pregnancy
There are a number of things you should be aware of when planning a pregnancy. We would like to help you to be as healthy as possible.
Complementary therapies
At the moment, we do not have a good evidence base to recommend any complementary therapies. There are none that are proven to increase your chances of conceiving. We would not recommend the use of any herbal remedies, as we do not know how safe they are. However, if you are using complementary therapies such as massage or acupuncture to relieve stress and you are finding this helpful there is no reason why you should not continue doing so.
Venous Thromboembolism (VTE)
VTE, more commonly known as a blood clot, is an uncommon complication of IVF treatment and pregnancy but can be very serious if left untreated. Some women are more at risk of developing VTE based on their medical history or the medical history of close relatives. We will assess your VTE risk before you start your IVF treatment.
If you are considered to be at an increased risk, we will prescribe blood thinning injections either to go alongside your IVF injections or to start if you become pregnant.
If you have any other questions about planning a pregnancy, please ask a member of our nursing or medical staff and we would be happy to answer.
Emotional support
Counselling
We are aware that undergoing fertility investigations and treatment is stressful and can affect the most personal and private aspects of your life. Counselling can help to lessen potential feelings of isolation and confusion, and encourage you to recognise and understand your emotions and allow you to explore the options that you have available to make the decisions that are right for you.
We offer a counselling service that gives you the opportunity to talk to an empathic and impartial counsellor in a confidential setting. You may attend together or individually. Each session usually lasts for one hour and can be delivered face to face, on video or on the telephone.
If you would like to see a counsellor, please email [email protected] and we will arrange an appointment or alternatively speak to a nurse or doctor who can arrange this for you.
Support groups
Support groups offer a chance to meet and share experiences with others who are also trying to conceive. You can participate as much, or as little, as you wish and sessions are informal. You can attend as a couple or individually. Peer support provides an opportunity to learn from others going through a similar experience.
Newcastle Fertility Support Group work closely with Fertility Network UK and is held on the second Monday of every month. Posters are displayed in the clinic. For more information email [email protected]
You can also join the closed Facebook group or search “northeastfertility”.
Prescriptions
NHS funded patients will have their prescription sent electronically to the RVI pharmacy and asked to go there to collect their medications. You will need to pay the standard NHS prescription charge per item on the prescription. Sometimes there can be multiple items on one script for a cycle of treatment.
Self-funded patients can also have their prescription sent electronically to the RVI pharmacy or can ask for a paper prescription to take to a pharmacy of their choice. You will be charged for the drugs when they are dispensed by the pharmacy. If you are a self-funded patient, we recommend that you shop around for the best price for your medications. Most pharmacies will need a few days’ notice to get fertility medications in stock for you.
Prescriptions sent to the RVI must be collected within one week of issue and you must ensure you have collected your drugs before you are due to start treatment.
Remember to check the expiry dates and storage instructions for each medicine.
Injections
We will teach you, your partner (if applicable), or a friend/family member to administer the injections. Some patients are surprised to hear this, but it really is simple to learn, and much easier than having to visit your doctor every day. All the injections are given into the subcutaneous tissue (the layer of fat directly underneath your skin) using a small thin needle. The injections can be given in your stomach (anywhere below the belly button and above the hips) or your upper outer thighs. You can choose which you feel most comfortable with. Injections must be taken at the same time every day.
If you choose not to do your own injections and wish to go to your GP, you must arrange for this yourself, remembering that some injections must be given at weekends or evenings. Unfortunately, we cannot arrange for injections to be given in the unit, as we do not have the staff available.
Needles and syringes
You can collect needles, syringes, and a sharps box from the Newcastle Fertility Centre. Please return the sharps box and any unused items to the centre for safe disposal.
Important
Please do not dispose of needles in your general household waste/recycling.
Appointments for treatment
Getting time off work for appointments can be difficult. Some people find it helpful to discuss what is happening with their employer, others don’t. We can provide proof of your appointments if requested.
The minimum number of appointments are as follows. If you are having treatment as a couple then attendance of both partners is essential for the appointments in bold, although partners are welcome to attend at any point
- Scheduling appointment
- Starting scan
- Monitoring scan(s)
- Final scan
- Egg collection
- Embryo transfer
Please remember that the treatment dates are only an estimate of how your body will respond to the drugs. This means that we may have to alter the treatment dates in response to the scan results to ensure that you have the best chance of a successful outcome. This can sometimes be at very short notice.
Contact
If you have any questions or concerns throughout your treatment, you can email the fertility nurses.
We do our best to answer your call as soon as possible, but we are a very busy service, so we may not always have someone available to speak with you immediately. If the line is engaged, please try again later or use the nurse email address above. The telephone line is often quieter in the afternoon.
Outside of these hours, there is an on-call doctor available to speak to in emergencies only on 0191 256 8240. The on-call doctor is not able to change clinic appointments or to answer general queries that are not urgent. These types of calls must be made during clinic opening hours.
For more urgent queries, our telephone line is open 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday
Patient feedback
We welcome your opinions and feedback on areas you feel have gone well or suggestions you may have to help us improve our service.
If you have any problems during your treatment or are unhappy with the care you are receiving please contact the Senior Sister (Stacey Turnbull) on 0191 213 8213.
Fertility treatment is sometimes upsetting and frustrating particularly when things do not go quite to plan or you do not get the outcome you had hoped for. Sometimes having a chat with us will help relieve some of the tension and frustrations you may be feeling. We are always willing to listen.
