IVF treatment "worth the delay" during pandemic says West Yorkshire mum
It emerged NHS patients were far more likely to suffer IVF delays during the pandemic than those paying privately
A mum from Castleford who faced an agonising five month wait for IVF before getting pregnant says delays during the pandemic were "worth it".
Abigail Walker, 25, had been trying for a baby but due to suffering with Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, she struggled to fall pregnant naturally.
She first tried other treatments, such as injecting herself, before turning to IVF as her last resort.
Abigail was due to start her second round of IVF treatment on the NHS in March 2020, but clinics were forced to close when the Covid pandemic hit.
Abigail told us her biggest concern during the delay was whether she was "going to be ready, when the clinic phones me saying right we're starting to fetch people back to the clinic.
"I didn't know if I was going to be mentally prepared for that, and if I wasn't, is it going to be another IVF failure".
Despite all the complications, Abigail and her partner now have a health 11 month old, Emerson.
Study finds NHS patients forced to wait longer for IVF
A new report has today revealed that NHS patients, like Abigail, were forced to wait longer for IVF treatment than private patients during the pandemic.
Fertility treatments were suspended across the UK on April 15 2020 after the country went into lockdown.
The next month, clinics could reopen if they could show they were Covid safe, with private fertility clinics moving to reopen faster than NHS clinics.
Some 83% of private and 34% of NHS clinics were approved to resume service by May 15 2020. Many private clinics also treat NHS patients.
By November 2020, nearly all private and NHS clinics had approval to reopen.
The report has blamed the delays on the general affect of Covid on the health service.