CHRISTMAS STARTED A MIRACLE FOR WOULD-BE PARENTS FROM PORTISHEAD
CHRISTMAS STARTED A MIRACLE FOR WOULD-BE PARENTS FROM PORTISHEAD
Staff at Bristol fertility clinic BCRM have received a timely thank-you from a Portishead couple who on Christmas Day will mark the first anniversary of the start of their IVF journey and are “over the moon” to be sharing this year’s festivities with their 14-week-old IVF “miracle baby” Noah.
Helen and Stephane Delgard started trying for a baby soon after they got together in 2014, when she was 23 and he was 31, but Helen had a complex medical history - including abdominal surgery to remove much of her bowel - and had been told she might never conceive naturally.
The thirty-four-year-old customer account executive said: “I was very unwell when Stephane and I first met, so he was aware of my issues and we thought we’d just see where life took us.”
But siblings and friends were all having babies, and the pair soon became very keen to have one of their own.
After a few unsuccessful years they sought advice from their GP who referred them to BCRM for investigations, but then Covid struck and everything came to a halt.
Stephane said: “We were downhearted. Helen’s brother and sister-in-law gave birth to two babies who looked so much like Helen that it hurt.
“And an insensitive insurance call-handler once asked me: Why do you have a house with four bedrooms if you don’t have children?
“People just don’t think, and throwaway comments like that can be so painful.”
When fertility treatments restarted after Covid the couple needed to have a raft of new tests and scans, and were told that to optimise Helen’s chances of conception she needed more surgery to unblock her fallopian tubes.
The couple are keen to credit their consultant gynaecologist for taking the time to ensure the best possible outcome for Helen. Valentine Akande initially saw and treated Helen at Southmead Hospital and continued to supervise her fertility treatment when she transferred to BCRM where he is chief medical officer.
Stephane said: “Dr Akande took full account of Helen’s complicated medical history and insisted on the attendance of a multi-disciplinary team, including a gastro surgeon, for her operation.
“They removed scar tissue caused by previous surgeries which weighed an astonishing two-and-a-quarter kilos, and the surgical team who were later present for Helen’s C-section when Noah was born, including two bowel specialists, were full of praise for the attention to detail at this preparatory surgery.”
Three months later, in October 2024, the couple had their first visit to BCRM and although Helen described the prospect as “nerve-wracking”, they were also both very excited.
She said the Aztec West-based clinic inspired confidence: “It’s a lovely environment, with a calm atmosphere, and pristine.
“We really appreciated that the consultants were happy to take as much time as we needed for explanations and always addressed both of us, which made it feel like a real partner journey. That was very important to us.
“They were also scrupulous about taking all my health issues into account, and put me on the treatment programme which was least likely to cause any medical complications, given my history.
“I took my very first IVF meds on Christmas Day last year, and my egg collection took place in mid-January.
“I was really apprehensive, but in the end it was quite a relaxed procedure because the team was so calm and reassuring.
“We had regular updates on every little development. Of the 16 eggs I had removed, 13 matured to the embryo stage, 10 of which developed into ‘top quality’ blastocysts appropriate for implantation.
“The blastocysts were frozen and at the end of January one of those little miracles was transferred back into me and – amazingly – we became pregnant first time.
“However, despite all the care that had got us to that point, I became quite ill and experienced heavy bleeding at the end of the third week of pregnancy which led us and the medical team to anticipate that I might have lost the baby.
“My six-week scan was therefore carried out with the greatest delicacy, mindful of our potential loss, and the radiologist very sensitively positioned the screen so the image was not in our line of vision.
But then, with a huge smile, she turned it back and showed us Noah’s tiny heartbeat.
“We both broke down, and the team were crying too.
“After that it was a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy and our beautiful boy was born at 37 weeks, weighing 6lb 10oz.”
“The support from the clinic throughout our journey was incredible and we just know that we couldn’t be where we are today without BCRM’s help and support. We thank the whole team and wish them a very merry Christmas.”
