Oh baby, let’s havea big party!

Mar 10 2008 by Anne-Marie Bradley, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

IVF BABIES born to Huddersfield parents were among those celebrated at a special party.

Parents from across Kirklees and Halifax gathered to toast the arrival of their precious newborns after undergoing fertility treatment at the Calderdale Royal Hospital.

The site’s assisted conception unit had its busiest year ever last year, seeing 1,000 new appointments. This is up 30% on the year before. The unit also smashed IVF success rates with one in three couples becoming pregnant, as against a national average of one in four.

Staff organises the party every year to give parents the chance to meet and show off their by new bundles of joy.

Helen Marvell, fertility nurse specialist, said: “The party is held as a celebration of the unit’s success, but also gives staff the chance to spend time with the families they have helped and to see how they are progressing.

“It is also an opportunity for parents to meet and chat with other families who have had similar experiences to them.”

Brighouse couple Kirsty and David Greenwood were among those celebrating the birth of baby Lucas, now six months old, after their nine-year fertility battle.

Kirsty, 33, became pregnant after just one cycle of IVF at the unit.

She said: “The results of my IVF treatment were due on Boxing Day, so we had a very anxious Christmas.

“The staff on the unit really made a special effort for us. They went into the hospital on Boxing Day so they could phone us with our results and save an extra day of waiting.

“We were so delighted when we found out I was pregnant. Needless to say we had a lovely new year.

“We were really looking forward to the party, so we could take Lucas to meet the staff who helped him to be here.

“He really has completed our family; we couldn’t imagine life without him.”

The unit – run by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust – was set up in 1995 to offer advice and care to couples across Huddersfield and Halifax who were experiencing difficulties with becoming pregnant.

It was the 11th year a party was held and it was at North Bridge Leisure Centre in Halifax..