Stockport or Manchester???

[Sunnydays]

Hi all, this is probably a long shot as I realise there are people on here from all over the world but is there anybody here that has been referred for/ is undergoing / or had IVF in Stockport or Manchester, naminly at St Mary's hospital? X

 

[Browneyed Girl]

Yes! I am in Stockport and was referred via Stepping Hill to St Mary's for ivf. I had one cycle with them in 2014 which resulted in my little boy. Is there anything I can help with? Xx

 

[Sunnydays]

Yes! I am in Stockport and was referred via Stepping Hill to St Mary's for ivf. I had one cycle with them in 2014 which resulted in my little boy. Is there anything I can help with? Xx

Hi, thank you so much for your reply. I'm just wondering about time frames. I too have been referred to St Mary's via stepping hill. We saw the consultant at S.H nearly two months ago and having heard nothing since, I phoned st Mary's yesterday and they said 'oh yeah, you are in the system and we will send your pink form out' (what ever that is??). I got the impression that they had forgotten us. How did you find St Mary's and what sort of time frame did you have to completing your first cycle of ivf? We had such amazing, quick service at s.h and wondered if st Mary's was the same?
Congrats on your little boy. Did you only have the option to complete your IVF at St Mary's or could you choose the CARE clinic in Manchester aswell? Care was mentioned to us by one consultant but not another one.

So sorry for all the questions, I feel in a big head spin with it all x

 

[Browneyed Girl]

Hi! From what I can remember the pink form is the first thing they send to you - you fill in your details e.g. height, weight, ttc history and attach passport photos of you and your oh. They will then write to you advising to call on your next af for blood tests, scan and sperm sample. I was referred around July I think and went in for bloods and a scan in September (frustratingly they repeat all the same bloods and scan that Stepping Hill have already done). It took quite a while from then until the next appointment which I think was in January with the nurse practitioner who advised ICSI was recommended (they recommend ICSI the majority of the time) and went through our results. My scan showed I have a heart shaped womb so I was referred for an MRI scan which delayed things further as I couldn't get the scan until about March. Then I had an appointment with a consultant to discuss it and she recommended a hysteroscopy so again that delayed treatment. Usually at the appointment with the nurse practitioner they will tell that you can ring on your next af to request treatment. They had a system where if you were declined 3 times because they didn't have space for you on that cycle you were guaranteed to be accepted for treatment on the 4th time. When you ring up to request treatment they book you in for teach which is where they show you how to do the injections and your drugs are also ordered.

As I'd been delayed so long they accepted me the first time I rang which I think was in August and I started treatment in October so for me it was 13 months between initial bloods and starting treatment but it would usually be quicker than this, the average would probably be around 6 months if straight forward. It might even be quicker now as just after I cycled with them they started doing transfers at the weekend so they could treat more patients.

I wasn't given a choice, we were just told we were being referred to St Mary's as Stepping Hill don't carry out treatment. Obviously this worked out well for me and I would say I had a good experience. It's very impersonal though, when you go for bloods you pick a number out of a tray and get called in that way, I've waited a long time to be called as well. You never see any drs (I only saw the consultant once as she was doing the hysteroscopy) only the nurses. The nurse practitioner we saw initially I wasn't very impressed with, she came across a bit negative. There is a panel of drs and they make the decisions on your treatment and review your scans etc during treatment so although you don't see them they are involved. The benefits of St Mary's are that it's a research hospital so they amend their approach all the time based on the results of their research. They use an embryoscope and embryo glue as standard and I think at the time were going to bring in the scratch as standard. ICSI is done in about 70% of cases so it's their preferred option. I don't know a lot about. Care or their stats but they are probably a bit more personal. You might find more info on Fertility Friends.

I hope this helps! If you have any more questions just shout xx

 

[Sunnydays]

Oh thats all really helpful, thanks so much. Hoping to receive our pink form this week and hopefully it will get the ball rolling x

 

[maybe baby]

No advice but I'm Stockport too girls!😀

Stepping hill are looking after my mil and need keeping on their toes and chasing up rather than waiting to hear about appointments in my experience though!

Good luck!

Xx

 

[Sunnydays]

No advice but I'm Stockport too girls!😀

Stepping hill are looking after my mil and need keeping on their toes and chasing up rather than waiting to hear about appointments in my experience though!

Good luck!

Xx

Hi maybe baby and fellow Stockport lady. 🙋🏽 I have had amazing service from stepping hill. Super quick appointments and everything felt so personal but we have been transferred to st Mary's now as S.H don't do ivf treatment and it's St. Mary's that appear to be really slow....I'm sure they've just forgotten about us. I guess we will get there in the end. Maybe it's my impatience.

 

[Jasmine111]

I had ivf at st Mary's and had a little girl on my second attempt. I was referred from north Manchester hospital in November 2014. After the paperwork test etc, I had my first attempt in may 2015 which unfortunately didn't work. I then started a frozen cycle in December 2015 and was pregnant in January 2016 from it. I agree with brown eyed girl, because they are so busy I just felt like I was on a conveyor belt but I found the nurses to be really friendly apart from one. I don't know what she is called, I spoke to her on the phone once when my first attempt failed, I was quite upset and she just said "do a test on your official testing date and ring back" quite insensitive x

 

[Sunnydays]

I had ivf at st Mary's and had a little girl on my second attempt. I was referred from north Manchester hospital in November 2014. After the paperwork test etc, I had my first attempt in may 2015 which unfortunately didn't work. I then started a frozen cycle in December 2015 and was pregnant in January 2016 from it. I agree with brown eyed girl, because they are so busy I just felt like I was on a conveyor belt but I found the nurses to be really friendly apart from one. I don't know what she is called, I spoke to her on the phone once when my first attempt failed, I was quite upset and she just said "do a test on your official testing date and ring back" quite insensitive x

Thank you for your reply and congratulations on you little girl. St Mary's do seem to have a good success rate if noting else.

 

[Sunnydays]

Our consent forms from St Mary's have arrived today. Ekkkkk here we go x

 

[Jasmine111]

Glad the ball is rolling for you x