Assisted Reproduction Unit (ARU), University Hospital of Hartlepool

Find out this clinic’s IVF/ICSI rates for births per embryo transferred, births per egg collection and multiple births. For greater detail on clinic performance see their detailed statistics below for both pregnancy and birth rates per cycle of treatment and per embryo transferred.

Remember, whatever measure you focus on it can’t tell you your individual measure of success (only your doctor can do that), but each measure does give you a fair overall view of the clinic’s performance.

Births per embryo transferred Description i Information: This rate shows the number of births (counted as a single birth event ie. twin births count as one live birth event) divided by the total number of embryos transferred

We present births per embryo transferred as it promotes embryo transfer practices that minimises the chances of twins, which carry health risks for the babies and the mother. However, this measure does not incorporate the outcomes of patients who do not reach embryo transfer stage.

Births per egg collection Description i Information: This rate shows the number of births (counted as a single birth event ie. twin births count as one live birth event) divided by the number of egg collections. This figure is calculated by selecting qualifying egg collections over a 12 month period and following their usage over a maximum of 24 months

This rate shows the chance of success from all the fresh and frozen embryo transfers within two years of one egg collection. Whilst births per embryo gives you an indication of success rates for just one embryo transfer, births per egg collection gives an overall picture of success rates for a full course of treatment (which can include one fresh and a number of frozen transfers).

Multiple birth rates Description i Information: This rate shows the number of multiple birth events (counted as a single multiple birth event ie. twin births, triplet births, quad births all count as one multiple birth) divided by the total number of birth events (counted as a single birth event ie. singleton, twin birth, triplet birth, quad births all count as one birth event)

For some people, having twins may seem like a wonderful thing, but multiple pregnancies are less safe for both mother and babies. That’s why we’ve set a target for all clinics to have a multiple birth rate of 10% or lower – see how they’re performing below. The professional bodies have best practice guidelines to assist clinics in determining when a single embryo should be transferred and the factors which can make double embryo transfer appropriate.

National rate

It may be tempting to obsess over success rates, but the most important thing to focus on is whether the clinic’s results are consistent with the national average. Try not to read anything into differences of few percentage points, as these are often down to chance rather than being a reflection of a clinic’s abilities.

Reliability range

The reliability range shows how confident we are that a clinic will repeat its success rate in the future – the narrower the range, the more confident we can be. Large clinics normally have a narrower reliability range. That’s not because their data is more accurate but because their rate is less likely to be affected by small changes in the number of births in one year. Small clinics aren’t worse but their success rate is more likely to be affected by these kinds of changes.

Births per cycle started Description i Information: This rate shows the number of live birth events (multiple babies are counted as one birth event) divided by the number of cycles started.

There are many reasons why patients may not reach the embryo transfer stage and the merit of this rate is that it reflects the outcomes for all patients undergoing treatment from the start of ovarian stimulation onwards.