The Shropshire and Mid Wales Fertility Centre moves to state-of-the-art new facility
The Shropshire and Mid Wales Fertility Centre has opened the doors at its new home – one of the most modern, state-of-the-art facilities in the UK.
The centre, one of the top IVF clinics in the country, has moved to the Severn Fields Health Village on Sundorne Road, Shrewsbury. Its previous home was at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), where it had been based since 1991.
The facility is an NHS Assisted Conception Centre delivering the latest assisted conception methods and technology to both NHS and private patients. As well as IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation), that includes ICSI (Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection), IUI (Intra-Uterine Insemination), Egg Donation and FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer).
Its new home now consists of a large secure admin area; an outpatient and diagnostics area, and a clinical hub which features laboratories, treatment rooms and recovery area.
Within the laboratories is located a time lapse incubator. The incubator is able to photograph the developing embryos every two to three minutes, creating a time lapse video. The embryologists can then view the video to aid them in selecting the highest quality embryos, enabling the patient to have the best chance of achieving a successful pregnancy.
The centre has been designed by the multi-professional fertility team to provide scope for more advanced fertility treatments, such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, to be offered in the future; and further improve the centre’s success rates, which are already the highest in the West Midlands.
Jason Kasraie, Consultant Clinical Embryologist and Andrologist, and Head of Fertility Services, said: “We started delivering IVF in Shropshire in 2003 when we were based at the RSH. We outgrew that facility because we had originally designed services for 100 IVF cycles a year, and now we are doing up to 650. Also the technology and the science has rapidly advanced, we needed a 21st century facility to keep pace and ensure we continue to offer the highest quality care to our patients.
“We have refreshed our facility for cleaner air handling and that helps the embryos as they are sensitive to airborne contaminants. Our treatment rooms also have new, yellow lighting which cuts out all violet and ultraviolet light because there are some studies that suggest that it might be harmful to the embryos. All of this will help further improve our success rates.”
He added: “This is an exciting week for the fertility team and the patients that we offer our service to. We look forward to welcoming our first couples through the doors this week.”
