CELEBRATION

Celebrating 20 years of IVF Service

Mr Jude-Harris Adeghe, Consultant in Gynaecology & Assisted Reproduction, backed by his team at St Jude’s Women’s Hospital, is celebrating 20 years of providing IVF services in Wolverhampton.
Mr Adeghe was appointed as Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at New Cross Hospital Wolverhampton in 1995. Through collaboration with the Birmingham Women’s Hospital he upgraded the fertility services at New Cross Hospital and obtained HFEA licence for IVF and related treatments in 1997. Following this achievement, Mr Adeghe held negotiations with the then Director of Public Health, Wolverhampton Health Authority, and a contract for IVF services was awarded to the New Cross Hospital Assisted Conception Unit. This meant that Wolverhampton couples could undergo treatment locally instead of travelling outside the region. The unit operated for four years and recorded one of the highest pregnancy rates in the midlands.

Mr Adeghe started St Jude’s Women’s Hospital, Wolverhampton in 2002 to provide a comprehensive fertility and IVF services. From 2009 to 2013, St Jude’s held the NHS contract for provision of IVF services in Wolverhampton. St Jude’s was also in the panel of clinics providing NHS funded IVF services to the then South Staffordshire Health Authority. St Jude’s has a satellite clinic at Sandy Lane, Newcastle-u-lyme, Staffordshire and still going strong.

Altogether, over 1100 babies have been born following treatments carried out under Mr Adeghe’s care. To celebrate 20 successful years of IVF service and God’s blessings, Mr Adeghe and Staff of St Jude’s cordially invite past and present patients of St Jude’s, friends and wishers, to join us for a celebratory afternoon:

On: Saturday 9 December 2017

Time: 2.00 to 6.00pm

At: St Jude’s Hospital, 263 Penn Rd, Penn, Wolverhampton WV4 5SF

Let us know if you wish to attend by phone – 01902 620831, by email – clinic@stjudeclinic.com, or via facebook.

St Jude’s Quarterly Update (2nd & 3rd quarters)

Greetings. The year is flying by at supersonic speed! It has been hectic but productive! I hope you are all well and have had a good summer. The good Lord has been kind, we have many good things to report.
Highlights are as follows:

•  Successful HFEA License renewal inspection – We are pleased to announce that our HFEA license have been renewed for the maximum period of four years without conditions. This is a testament to the hard work, dedication and brilliance of our staff. It is a verification that Quality & Safety is paramount in all that we do.
•  Pregnancy rates continues to be impressive. So much so that our challenge is to try and reduce our high twin pregnancy rate! Up to date clinical pregnancy rates will published shortly.
• There is more to fertility management than IVF. St Jude adopts a holistic approach to fertility care:  Individualised care based on the simplest, most cost-effective treatment. It may not be IVF. Our treatment recommendation is always evidence-based but guided by experience and delivered with utmost care and respect for your individuality, dignity and sensitivity.
• Patient’s wish and preference is our focus, not the so-called league table. We have not set exclusion criteria based on BMI or age. Our approach is truly patient-centred
• Our Miscarriage clinic continues to record spectacular success. 70% of patients who attend the recurrent miscarriage go on to have a successful pregnancy following comprehensive investigation, treatment and monitoring.
• Our non-IVF treatments such as simple ovulation induction with ultrasound follicle tracking is highly successful
• Medical treatment for PCOS (not involving IVF) is proving effective
• Hysteroscopy service is up and running and proving to be a valuable investigation for implantation failure and miscarriage
• Ultrasound scanning service is proving very popular      

       So much for now. Till our next report, stay well and stay blessed.
 

SAM & DAVE'S FERTILITY JOURNEY

Sam and Dave had been trying for a baby for around 3 years before being referred for fertility treatment. They received treatment at another clinic unsuccessfully before getting in touch with us here at
St Jude’s Clinic.

Sam (42) is a teacher and Dave is a National Sales Manager for a holiday company. They live in Wolverhampton. Find out what happened during their fertility journey in this interview with Sam below:

When did you first start trying to conceive and how long was it before you decided to seek help through fertility services?

After we got married in 2001, we decided that we wanted to start a family straight away. By 2004, we still hadn’t fallen pregnant so we sought help from our GP. Following various tests and procedures at New Cross, we were referred to another local fertility clinic for treatment.

How did infertility affect you in your personal life?

I found that the infertility affected me on a daily basis. Being in my late 20s/early 30s, everyone around me was getting pregnant. I would cry every time someone announced a pregnancy. I felt like such a failure because I couldn’t do the one thing my body was designed for.  My husband was incredibly supportive but I felt like I had failed him too.

We avoided friends and family events, partly because of the pregnant women but also because of the invasive and personal questions. I have learnt never to ask a couple if they want children.
Even being at work became a battle. Working with predominately young women meant that sitting in the staffroom became impossible. I felt like I was surrounded by the most fertile people on Earth but I wasn’t one of them.

Infertility puts a strain on any marriage but thankfully, it made us stronger as a couple. We believe that if we could get through this, we can get through whatever life throws at us in the future.

Tell us about the sort of fertility treatments you had - what were they like to experience?

At another local fertility clinic, we had IUI followed by IVF but having failed, it was recommended that we tried ICSI next. On the second round of ICSI, I fell pregnant with twins but miscarried both before 12 weeks. One frozen embryo transfer and then one more fresh round of ICSI resulted in another pregnancy but this too, was not to last.

We were investigated for recurrent miscarriage and the treatment was adjusted accordingly. We managed to borrow more money for the last two rounds of ICSI but both failed.

Each type of fertility treatment has different challenges to overcome. You learn to inject yourself and you become an expert with the terminology. It is the emotional rollercoaster which is more difficult to cope with.

I joined an online fertility forum which became my saving grace. These were woman who understood my pain and anguish and supported me through each treatment.  Unless you have been through infertility, you can never truly understand how painful it is.

How long did it take for you to get pregnant after starting treatment?

We had given up hope of ever having children when my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He knew that he would not get to spend the pension he had saved for all of his life so my parents offered to pay for more fertility treatment on the agreement that we sought a second opinion. 

This led us to Mr Adeghe and thank the Lord we did.  He insisted on some additional tests to find out why I couldn’t stay pregnant. He found out that I had an abnormal blood supply to my uterus. With medication, this problem was solved and we got pregnant after just one round of ICSI at St Jude’s.

How did you feel in that moment you realised you had a positive pregnancy test?

The night before I was due to do the test, I started spotting. I was distraught and cried myself to sleep. The next morning, my husband convinced me to do the test - I did 4 because I was convinced the first 3 were wrong. (I kept those pregnancy tests for 3 years).  I was elated but extremely scared. That feeling stayed with me until I felt that baby move at 22 weeks.

Did you face any challenges or worries during your pregnancy?

I had a threatened miscarriage at 6 weeks so was put on bed rest until 12 weeks. This was the most difficult six weeks of my life. I felt incredibly guilty at leaving my class and being an active person, bed rest was really, really hard.

I went back to work at 13 weeks pregnant but then extensive nosebleeds started due to the aspirin I needed to take. I was not allowed to work until I was nose-bleed free for 7 days. I managed about 5 weeks work during the whole nine months of pregnancy. Thankfully, my boss and colleagues were extremely supportive.

Tell us about your baby!

I gave birth to the most perfect and precious baby girl in May 2011. We instantly fell in love. She is now a happy, confident 6 yr old who loves life. She is the centre of our world and we count our blessings on daily basis that we have her in our lives.

What’s it like being a mum after the long-awaited journey that you had?

Being a mum is the most wonderful experience of my life. It is everything I thought it would be and more. Our daughter brings us joy on a daily basis and we are so proud of everything she does.

I often sit at night and watch her, still not believing how lucky we are and how we had given up hope of ever having a child of our own. Mr Adeghe gave us that chance and for that, he is our hero.  We are forever in his debt.

What advice could you give to couples going through their own fertility journey based on your experiences?

Most importantly, if you are experiencing infertility, start your journey sooner rather than later. Test and appointments take time so it is best to get started.

Fertility treatment takes you on an emotional roller-coaster. Be kind to yourself and be kind to each other. It is perfectly okay to feel miserable and there will be days when you want to stay in bed and eat chocolate.  Try not to shut yourself away from the world. Find someone to talk to who truly understands what you are going through. 

__________________________________________________________________________________

The team at St. Jude’s Clinic would like to thank Sam for sharing her and Dave’s moving and inspirational fertility story. We hope that it will give you optimism and courage to get through the difficult times during your own fertility journey.

If you’d like to talk to someone about our fertility services and how we could help you, please get in touch by calling 01902 620831.

PREGNANCY RATE PER CYCLE - FRESH, STIMULATED
Under 38yrs
UPDATED BY HFEA ON 08-03-2017

	IVF	ICSI
ST JUDE'S	50%	35.3%
NATIONAL AVERAGE	31.6%	36.4%

             BRILLIANT RESULTS. WE GIVE ALL THE GLORY TO GOD.

    
        
         

~~ST JUDE'S PREGNANCY RATES  FOR FIRST QUARTER 2017 (JANUARY To MARCH)     
     
IVF & ICSI CYCLES WITH OWN EGGS OR DONOR EGGS (FRESH CYCLES) - ALL AGES
     
Number of Patients who had Embryo Transfer*   =   15
     
Age Range  ---   30 - 46yrs
     
Average Age  ---  37.6 yrs
     
Number of Clinical Pregnancies ---  7
     
Clinical Pregnancy Rate ---   46.70%
     
COMMENTS:      
 
   * Note that this is the number of patients who have had embryo transfers. There are others who had  
     elective embryo freezing, awaiting ET in a subsequent natural cycle or programmed cycle      
     
    -It should be noted that the average age of patients in this group is nearly 38yrs.      
     
    -It is highly commendable that we are recording a high pregnancy rate of 46.7% in the patient group with
     average age of 37.6yrs     
     
 FROZEN EMBRYO TRANSFERS (ALL AGES)     
     
 Number of Patients =  6  
     
Age Range -- 35 - 49 yrs  
     
Average Age --- 40yrs  
     
Number of ClinicalPregnancies = 2  
     
Clinical Pregnancy Rate = 33.30%