‘What’s Up Doc’ is a health column in association with Spire Gatwick Park, your local private hospital, which gives you the opportunity to ask questions regarding general health and wellbeing. Answers will be provided weekly from specialist consultants at Spire Gatwick Park Hospital. If it’s a long-standing illness or simply a worry which you would like to get off your mind then send your questions to Spire Gatwick Park is a private hospital located in Horley, Surrey providing a range of treatments, from orthopaedic to ophthalmic, ENT to cosmetic. You do not need private medical insurance to use Spire Gatwick Park Hospital facilities and patients can get appointments within 2 weeks.
QUESTION:
Me and my partner have a child already but have been trying for almost 3 and a half years and am having no luck…I want to know what my choices would be, do I need to have a fertility assessment, what could be the possible problems?
ANSWER:
Hi, if you have been actively trying to achieve for over 3 years I would definitely suggest it is time to consult a fertility specialist.
We would start by looking at your ovarian reserves, this can be done by some simple blood tests early in your cycle and a scan to look at your antral follicle count – this is how active your ovaries look on ultrasound. We would also do a semen analysis on your partner as a male sperm count can fluctuate over time. If the tests are normal we would consider checking the potency of your fallopian tubes. This can be done with an x-ray and dye test, called a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) or a laparoscopy and dye test. All of these tests can be completed at Spire Gatwick Park Hospital.
Once we have all these results we can make a treatment plan, Spire Gatwick Park Hospital offers a full range of treatments including monitoring natural cycles, clomiphene (clomid) stimulation and gonadotropin injectable stimulation. All these cycles are closely monitored by scanning.
Spire Gatwick Park Hospital also works in association with Spire London fertility Centre to offer the full range of assisted reproductive technologies such as Intra-Uterine Insemination (IUI), In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) and all forms of donor cycles (egg and sperm). We have two fertility clinicians at Gatwick, Dr Youssef and Mr Kelada. Their profiles are on the website and I would certainly suggest booking an appointment at your earliest convenience.
Michelle Leroy-Baker is a fertility nurse specialist at Spire Gatwick Park Hospital. To book an appointment call 01293 778 906 or email info@spiregatwick.com.